Fragile Bird
by PlathFan96
Summary: Keith really was on the plane in Not Pictured, and now Logan Echolls is left to pick Veronica up off the top off the roof. Title based off the City and Colour song- and yes it does apply to the story. I'm horrible at summaries... Sorry! But I promise the story is decent!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"He killed my father!" she screams.

"Give me the gun, Veronica," Logan says, moving towards her, hand outstretched.

"He killed everyone on the bus! He raped me!" The gun in her hands shakes, as she tries to control her sobs. "You are not a killer, Veronica. Give me the gun," Logan repeats, getting closer, until she finally drops the gun. He takes it and gathers her into his arms, unaware of the boy about to jump off the roof.

"Beaver don't!" Logan yells, pulling away from Veronica.

"My name is Cassidy!" the boy screams, teetering on the edge of the building.

"Cassidy, don't."

"Why not?" And nothing came to mind. This boy had raped his girlfriend, he had killed her father in front of her. Why shouldn't he die? And then it was too late, and he was gone. Veronica staggered towards him, and he pulled her back into his arms, letting her sob. Suddenly, she froze.

"Mac!" she cried, pulling away and heading towards the door. Logan followed behind her, and talked the guy at the front desk to letting them into Mac and Cassidy's room, where they found her sitting on the floor wrapped in a sheet. Veronica rushed towards her, while Logan stayed back, thanking the employee, and then looking for Mac's clothes. Once Mac was dressed, she called her mother, who came to take her home. The police would come asking what happened sooner or later, but right now all Logan cared about was getting Veronica home. She hadn't stopped crying, although now she was doing so quietly. Logan took her hand and pulled her towards the parking lot, helping her into his car and heading back to her house. Veronica was silent the whole way there, staring out the window, watching the sky where she had seen her father die. They would find the wreckage tomorrow, probably. Maybe there would be a body, something for her to bury, but she doubted it, there probably wouldn't even be much of the plane left. She would have nothing. When they reached her apartment, Veronica didn't move.

"Veronica? Veronica we're here," Logan took her hand and squeezed, but she still didn't move. Sighing, he got out of the car and walked around to her side, opening the door and undoing her seat belt.

"Veronica?" he took both her hands in his and pulled her out of the car, wrapping an arm around her waist to keep her from falling. As they started to walk, she pulled herself back together enough to get her keys out of her bag and open the door, before sitting down on the couch and curling into a ball. Logan followed her inside, closing the door behind them. He took off his jacket, and helped Veronica out of hers before sitting down beside her and letting her crawl into his lap.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered, soothingly as she sobbed into his shirt, because what else could he say? He wasn't going to tell her that everything was going to be okay, her father had just been murdered, and nothing was going to make her feel better. So he settled for just muttering nothing into her hair. Just making sure she knew he was there. After a while, she fell asleep, lying across his lap. Once he was sure that she was out cold, Logan picked her up and carried her to her room, tucking her into bed before lying down on the couch to sleep. All through the night he listened for her, making sure that she was okay. By six in the morning, he was tired of trying to sleep, and decided to get up and make breakfast.

Veronica dreamed about her father when she was little. He was doing a puppet show for her, and she was laughing and laughing.

"_Do you smell that?" he asked. "Do you know what that is?" _

"_I smell bacon!"_ And then she woke up, and she could still smell bacon.

"Dad!?" she cried, running out of her room and into the kitchen. But it wasn't her dad, it was Logan standing at the stove. Veronica stopped in her tracks, the previous night hitting her like a tidal wave. Logan turned off the stove and grabbed her.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Veronica closed her eyes and tried to focus on Logan. He was there, he was in front of her. It was his arms wrapped around her. She was safe. And then the knocking started. She pulled away from Logan, wiping her eyes.

"I can get that," Logan offered, but Veronica shook her head. He followed her to the door to find Officer Sacks. "Veronica, do you mind if I come in?" She opened the door wider and let him in. "Veronica, I'm sorry to have to tell you that your father died in a plane crash last night."

"I know," she said, leaning back into Logan and blinking rapidly. "I saw. I know who blew the plane up." "What?" Veronica took a deep breath, closed her eyes and told him.

"Cassidy Casablancas killed my father, and everybody on the bus."

Sacks stared at her for a full twenty seconds before asking, "are you sure?" Veronica nodded, and Logan followed suit.

"Veronica, I'm sorry, but I need you to come down to the station with me. I need you to give a full statement." "Is that really necessary?" Logan asked, pulling Sacks aside. "Her father just died, I could barely get her out of the car yesterday."

Sacks looked back, and saw Veronica sitting on the couch, but it wasn't the Veronica that he knew. The Veronica that he knew was full of fire and sarcasm and life, but this girl wasn't. She sat on the couch, staring at a spot on the floor, not even noticing that he and Logan were talking about her.

"Just let me get her to eat something, and get dressed. I'll bring her down to the station in a couple hours." Sacks stared at her for a few more seconds before nodding.

"Okay." He nodded and let himself out. Veronica looked up as the door closed. "He wanted me to come to the station," she said, like it was just occurring to her that he had said that and then forgotten.

"We're going to go down there in a couple hours. First, you need to eat."

"I'm not hungry."

"You need to eat anyways. Even if it's just a piece of toast. But I made you bacon." And for the first time since she had found out, there was the slightest hint of a smile on her face.

"Okay," she nodded and moved to the table, where Logan placed a plate of bacon and eggs. Once they finished eating, Logan convinced her to get in the shower, and gave her some clothes to change into.

When they got to the Sheriff's Department, Lamb tried to separate the two of them, but despite Veronica's melancholy state, she knew that Logan meant safety and support, and she wasn't letting go of his hand, or going anywhere without him. Lamb even tried to physically remove her, had one of the deputies try to pull her away, that seemed to trigger whatever instincts that had been turned off, because she fought tooth and nail. Screaming and flailing and trying to kill whoever was trying to pull her away from Logan.

And then she started crying and screaming, "don't touch me! Please! Don't hurt me again!" And Logan jumped into action.

"Let go of her!" he pulled the officer off of Veronica, who let go of her immediately after she started yelling like that.

"Veronica!" Logan yelled, trying to grab her, but she pulled away, scrambling. She was trying to get to safety, to get away from all the men that surrounded her. To get away from the idea of Beaver in her bed. She ran, pushing the hands that tried to grab her away, until she was pinned. She ran herself into a corner and panicking, sat down on the floor with her knees to her chest, sobbing, muttering.

"Veronica," Logan approached her slowly, kneeling down in front of her. "Veronica it's okay, it's me." He put a hand on her knee, and she flinched, trying to back even farther into the corner.

"V, it's me. It's Logan." And it was like a switch in her head flipped, and she heard him. She looked up and threw herself towards him. "It's okay," he told her, "it's okay. I've got you. You're fine. You're safe." She nodded, but held onto him even tighter, as he picked her up off the floor.

"So do you think you should try and get her away from me again?" Logan asked. Lamb stared uncomfortably at the ground.

"Obviously I didn't understand the extent of what happened," he mumbled.

"Obviously," Logan agreed, helping Veronica into the interrogation room. Sacks sat across from them, microphone set up.

"Whenever you're ready, Veronica. Take your time." She took a few deep breaths, and then she told him. She told him everything, about how Woody had molested the kids on the team, how Cassidy blew up the bus, and how he blew up the plane.

"He raped me," she said quietly, and Logan squeezed her hand. Sacks sighed, and told her how sorry he was. About everything. When she had finished, Sacks packed up the recorder, and left the room.

"Take your time. And I really am sorry about your dad, Veronica. He was a great man."

"Thank you." Once he was gone, she leaned over and put her head on Logan's shoulder.

"I want to go home," she said.

"Okay," he kissed her forehead and took her hand, pulling her to the door, but before they could get out of the station, another officer ran up. "Logan Echolls?"

"Ya?" Logan turned around.

"Logan, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but your father was murdered last night." Logan instinctively looked over at Veronica at the word murder, but she didn't even flinch.

"Okay," he nodded, and continued to pull Veronica out the door.

"Logan?" Veronica turned to him as he helped her into his truck. "I'm sorry about your dad."

He smiled sadly at her, "the world is probably better off without him." He kissed her forehead and closed the door behind her.

The rest of the day was mostly Logan checking on Veronica, and starting to make plans for Keith's funeral. His own father's funeral was to be dealt with by the lawyers, not that Logan cared. He would have been happy to just dump the body on the side of the rode, and let the animals eat it, but the rest of the world needed to mourn the murderer who shared their TV screens. Veronica wasn't in any shape to deal with funeral arrangements, and Logan only asked her opinion when completely necessary. After getting some food into her, Logan helps Veronica get to bed, and takes up residence on the couch once again. Around 11, however, he woke with a start, hearing Veronica scream. Logan jumped up, and ran to her room to find Veronica moaning and thrashing around in bed.

"No, no, please," she mumbled loudly. "Daddy, please!" Logan approached her bed, calling her name. "Veronica?"

"Dad! Dad, no!"

"Veronica!" Logan tried again, this time shaking her shoulder.

"No!" she screamed even louder. "No! Please! Don't touch me! Don't hurt me! Stop! Cassidy, stop!" As her screams got louder, Logan pushed harder.

"Veronica!" he yelled, shaking her shoulders again. At this she started thrashing around even more, almost injuring herself more than once. Logan pinned her arms down, climbing onto the bed over top of her, trying to stop her from moving. She was going to get hurt if she kept it up.

"Veronica! Veronica listen to me, it's Logan!" he yelled, trying to get through her dream, but she kept yelling. "VERONICA!" her eyes flew open, and she tried to push him off.

"NO!" she screamed, as Logan let go of her hands and moved to the side of her bed.

"Veronica, Veronica look at me," he said softly. "Veronica it's Logan." She looked up and saw Logan, finally, and threw herself into his arms, sobbing. "Shh, shh. It's okay. It's okay, I'm right here. I've got you," he whispered, over and over again.

"Logan," she sobbed, unable to get anything else out. "Logan, I- I s-saw him! H-he kill-led my father," she sobbed into his chest.

"Shh, I know. I know. It's OK. He's gone. He's gone now. He can't hurt you anymore."

She nodded, but it wasn't making her feel much better. That boy had still killed her father. He had still raped her. Logan couldn't change that, and he couldn't take that pain away from her, at least not right away. Veronica continued to cry, until she didn't have any tears left to cry.

"Logan?" she whispered, when she had finally calmed herself down.

"Ya, Ronnie?"

"Don't leave me, okay?"

"Never," he smiled, kissing the top of her head. "Never in a million years." Veronica nodded, pulling herself closer to him.

"Will you stay with me?" she asked, as he helped her back into bed.

"Of course," he smiled, crawling into bed beside her, and letting her use his chest as a pillow.

"I love you, Logan," she mumbled as she fell asleep.

"I love you, too," he smiled, kissing her head, and wrapping his arm around her, holding her close. With his arms around her, she found that her nightmares, while still present, were easier to escape. Logan was there to chase her dreams away, and keep her safe, like her father had done when she was a little girl.

The next morning, Veronica woke to find herself still wrapped in Logan's arms. "Good morning," he smiled, brushing her hair out of her face.

"Morning," she gave him a small smile.

"How are you feeling this morning?"

"Better. The nightmares weren't as bad with you here."

"I'm glad. Do you want something to eat? Bacon? Toast? Coffee?"

"Coffee would be good."

"Your wish is my command." He kissed her and rolled out of bed, heading for the kitchen.

Veronica sat up in bed and watched him go. What would she do without him? She had been alone for less than a day, and she couldn't even imagine life without him. He had already taken over all the planning for her dad's funeral- they hadn't discovered any remains, so it was going to be an empty plot, but it was something. Today, she was going to deal with things. She had to deal with the apartment and she had to take responsibility for her own father's funeral. The old Veronica was coming back. That thought was enough to get her out of bed, but the more she thought about it, the more stressed and anxious she felt. And Logan saw. That was the problem with him- she couldn't hide anything. He could read every twitch, every sigh, every minute expression.

"What's wrong?" he asked, handing her a cup of coffee.

"I need to do all this stuff. I need to do my dad's-" she stopped, taking a deep breath. It was still hard for her to process.

"I need to plan his funeral. I need to deal with the apartment. People are going to start calling- people who I don't want to talk to. I have to look at his will- I have to deal with the business-" she started to breath heavily, panicking.

"Hey, hey!" Logan moved around the counter and took her face in his hands. "Hey, it's OK. Veronica look at me." She looked up, and the all too familiar tears were in her eyes again. "You don't have to do it alone. I'm right here. Remember? I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here."

Before Veronica could answer, there was a rapid knock at the door, before it was thrown open and Wallace came running in.

"Veronica!" he called, not seeing her standing behind Logan in the hallway.

"Wallace," she tried to smile at him, but the look he gave her told her not to try. He moved across the room quickly and pulled her into a hug.

"I'm so sorry, V. It was on the news this morning. I came right over as soon as I heard. What do you need?" She shook her head and pulled away from him.

"Hi Wallace," she breathed, a small smile on her face. He looked down at the floor, and then back at her, a smile forming on his face. Maybe he had been a little overbearing there.

"How are you?" he finally asked, figuring one question at a time would probably work better.

"I've been better," she shrugged, trying to play off her usual self, but like Logan, Wallace wasn't buying it. "Veronica Mars, look who is standing in this room. Do you think that's gonna fly with me?" It seemed that Wallace hadn't noticed Logan was there yet, but as Veronica's facade fell, he moved closer to her. He knew that he didn't need to, he trusted Wallace, but it was an instinct- Never leave Veronica when she needs him, no matter how much she might be protesting. When she didn't amend her answer, Wallace changed the question.

"What can I do?" Veronica shrugged, and Logan again moved closer. Wallace noticed him now, and lifted an eyebrow to her. That expression elicited her first honest reaction, and that was to send him the most meaningful look he had ever seen. And he translated it incredibly quickly- "I love him, Wallace. I need him." And he knew it was true. No matter how hard she tried to play it off, Veronica was always in a bad place after she and Logan broke up. Far worse than when Duncan had left. He trusted that Logan was taking care of her. A basic law of their relationship was that Logan loved Veronica slightly more than she loved him- or at least he said it out loud a lot more often than she did. He wasn't going to be shying away from her in the middle of this- he was going to solidify their relationship for the rest of human existence.

Now that he had some sort of reaction he tried his question again.

"What can I do, V?"

"I don't know," she said quietly, looking down as tears started to form in her eyes again. "I don't know what to do Wallace," she whispered, voice cracking. "Tell me what to do."

When she looked up, Wallace felt his heart break, and before Logan could sweep in, he pulled Veronica into a hug.

"You just have to be Veronica." he smiled sadly, holding her tight. After a few seconds like this, Veronica pulled away, backing towards her bedroom.

"Thanks for coming, Wallace." And while there was a smile on her face, it didn't reach her eyes the way it usually did. She quickly excused herself and closed the door, and Wallace turned to Logan.

"I'm sorry about your dad, too. It was on the news first." Logan shrugged, not overly upset about the loss of the man who used to beat him- the man who tried to kill Veronica, and did kill Lilly. In reality he was happy that he was dead.

"I know this isn't the best time for this," Wallace continued, "but I have to get something straight quickly." Logan knew what was coming, but didn't interrupt. "Veronica is my best friend. And right now she is nothing like the girl I know, but I know that you've seen her like this before, and I'm gonna let you take care of her, and I'm not going to make a big deal about you being back at all. I accept that she loves you, and that she needs you. In fact, I probably know that fact better than you do. But if you hurt her, I swear to God I will murder your sorry white boy ass and feel absolutely no regret. Got it?"

Logan smiled, knowing that Wallace was being completely serious. "I will never hurt Veronica. Not again. Not knowingly." The sincerity in his voice, and his eyes was all Wallace needed. He was happy putting his trust in Logan.

"Okay. What can I actually do. There has to be something."

"Honestly, I can't actually think of anything right now. I started working on Keith's funeral arrangements, and I've just been trying to take care of her."

"Okay. But call me for anything. Seriously, man." Logan nodded and he and Wallace shook hands before Wallace let himself out.

Once he was gone, Logan went to check on Veronica. He found her sitting on the floor in front of her bed, staring at the wall.

"Hey," he sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her from her reverie. "What are you thinking about?"

"What if I don't know how to be Veronica anymore?" she asked, truly afraid that maybe with Keith gone, she had lost too big a part of herself to regain.

"You're always going to be Veronica. No matter what."

"But what if I'm not!? What if I can't go back to being the old Veronica?!" She had barely raised her voice, but to Logan, it sounded like an ear piercing shriek. That would never happen. She would always be Veronica- his Veronica. No matter what.

"You are never not going to be Veronica. You will always be you. You know how I know?" She shook her head, looking at her hands. He put a finger under her chin, and tapped until she looked up. "Because I know you. Veronica you've been through so much, and you have never changed one bit."

"I changed when Lilly died," she muttered.

"Only if you weren't looking closely. Because the Veronica that I grew up with was still in there. Maybe a little guarded, but you had a right to be." She didn't look convinced, so he tried a new tactic.

"Veronica, who do you think you are?" He didn't ask it in an accusing way, but instead he asked like an English teacher might have. How do you define yourself?

She shrugged.

"Well, I think that you are the smartest, most caring person that I know. I think that you have a rapid fire wit, and that if you weren't a little bit snarky sometimes I wouldn't know who you were. I think that you're impulsive and brave and incredibly stupid sometimes, but I love you. I love every single part of you, and even if you're not as happy as you used to be, you will still be Veronica, because there is nothing in the world that could change that."

He knew that she was crying, and even though she had been doing that a lot, it unnerved him a bit, scared that he had actually said the wrong thing. But then she lifted her head and kissed him.

"I love you, Logan Echolls." He smiled and kissed her back.

"And I love you, Veronica Mars." Logan would have been happy to continue kissing her tears away, but Veronica had other plans. She quickly pulled herself off the floor and held her hand out to Logan.

"I think I need to try and get the old Veronica back." As they walked out of the bedroom a knock came at the door. Veronica figured that it would be somebody offering their respects, although she didn't know who- she wasn't exactly Miss Popularity at Neptune. But then she remembered graduation the day before- all the people that had cheered when her name was called. Maybe she had more friends than she thought. Even with this thought in mind, she did not expect to find Weevil Navarro standing outside. "Hey, V."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"What are you doing here?" she asked. "I thought you were in jail."

"Lamb had to let me out. Cliff did his job a little too well- no substantial evidence. V, I'm really sorry." And there went her resolve to get back to normal. Logan noticed the drop in her shoulders, and immediately stood behind her, giving her something to lean on. She bit her lip and nodded, trying not to cry in front of Weevil. She had to keep some street cred.

"Your dad was good to me. I just want you to know that whatever you need, I'm here. So are all the PCHers. We've got your back, V." Veronica nodded slowly, still keeping her tears at bay, but knowing that talking would ruin it. Weevil squeezes her arm, and then backs away, nodding.

"Thanks, Weevil." Logan supplies, and reaches out to shake his hand. As he does this, Eli gives him a look suggesting that he wants to talk to him- alone.

"Why don't you go eat something?" Logan suggested, gently pushing Veronica inside, towards the kitchen. He then stepped outside and closed the door.

"I just want you to know, that I have gotten many a call from that girl to get away from you- and I know she loves you, and I know you've probably heard this already today, but you better treat her right or so help me God, I will do to you what I want to do to Beaver right now- and we both know it's true. I'm ready to let the past be the past, for Veronica's sake, though." Logan nodded and stuck his hand out.

"I'm glad I'm not the only one watching out for her." Weevil nodded and took his hand.

"Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship," he smiled.

"Lily made you watch it too?" Logan smirked, and Weevil laughed before walking away.

"You've got my number if you need me!" he called.

When Logan got back inside, Veronica was sitting at the kitchen table, watching the door. "What was that about?" she asked.

"Nothing. Just watching your back."

"He gave you the- 'Don't you dare hurt her speech'?" Logan smiled, "and now we're friends." She raised an eyebrow, but he didn't waver. "Seriously. We agreed to get along." Veronica smiled a little and then nodded. "Okay."

"I thought you were going to eat something."

"No, you suggested I eat something and then pushed me inside."

"Alright, well now you're going to eat something. What do you want? You name it I'll make it."

She raised an eyebrow at this offer. Logan wasn't exactly what you would call a cook. "Okay, I'll make it or order it with such skill as has never been seen before in the Mars residence."

"I don't know, my skills are pretty good."

"Seriously, Ronnie. What do yo want. Anything at all. Do you want to go get some lasagna? Or some Manicotti? Lobster?"

"You're allergic to shellfish."

"Good point. Anything but shellfish, then."

"I'm not hungry, Logan."

"That's not an acceptable choice, Veronica. You barely ate any breakfast yesterday, and you didn't eat last night, and you never eat when you're working unless someone reminds you, and you worked all day before graduation. So all you've eaten in the last two days is a little bit of breakfast yesterday, and when you don't eat you get a little grumpy. And I, for one, don't want a grumpy Veronica on my hands." He stood in front of her now, hands on her hips, holding tightly enough that he would leave an imprint, but knowing that she would focus this way. A smile crossed her lips as he reasoned, and he knew he'd gotten her. "So what'll it be?"

"Lasagna." she said quietly.

"Excellent choice! Do you want to go for a car ride to get it?" Logan took her shrug as a yes. She needed to get outside anyways, or she would convince herself that going outside was bad and it would take him days to get her out again. He was not going to let this get her, no matter what it took. Logan called in their order, and then got Veronica out to the car. She seemed hesitant, but he promised that she didn't have to get out of the car when they got there. The drive was uneventful, until Logan got back in the car with the food. She had been rummaging through her bag, trying to find her phone when she came across the envelope. In all the chaos she had forgotten, but when Logan got in the car, she was staring at it, tears falling. She didn't hear him call her name, she was too busy remembering the day before, when her father had handed her the envelope.

_"For you, on this momentous occasion," Keith said, handing his daughter an envelope. Veronica felt it up and down, turned it around in her hands, smelled it and then did a small jump as she cried, "A PONY!" in age old tradition. Keith only grinned at her, as she finally opened the envelope. "New York?"_

"_We leave Tuesday," he shrugged. "Broadway. SoHo. The MOMA!" she crooned, but Keith shook his head. "Yankee Stadium. Shay Stadium, Madison Square Gardens!" he countered. "Oh!" she leaped into his arms, unable to contain her excitement any longer. "Thank you so much! This is awesome! Now go catch, Woody. I'm getting creeped out just knowing he's out there somewhere."_

"_Okay. You have fun tonight," he said, walking away._

"_That's the plan!"_

That was the last time she had seen her father. She hadn't told him that she loved him. In fact, the last thing she had said to her father was that she was going to find out who the last kid on Woody's team was. "Veronica!" Logan shook her shoulder incredibly worried by the fact that she was sobbing, but not actually moving, or looking away from the envelope in her hands. He slowly tried to pry it away from her, but it wasn't working. She had a vice like grip on it.

"Veronica, you're starting to scare me more than usual." She still didn't move, and sitting in a parking lot was starting to look conspicuous, so he turned the car on and drove back to her house, where he carefully extricated Veronica from the car and got her onto the couch, where he finally got the envelope away from her. Inside were the plane tickets to New York that Keith had bought her for graduation.

"Oh, Bobcat." he sighed, reaching for her. She fell into his arms, sobbing like she had the other night on the roof.

"I never told him I loved him!" she sobbed, and suddenly it all made sense to him. She found the envelope and remembered the last time she saw Keith.

"He knew. You didn't have to tell him. He knew how much you loved him."

"But I never got to tell him one last time. I didn't get to tell him before he died. He didn't answer the phone." she sobbed. Now Logan was confused again.

"What do you mean, Sweetie?" Veronica took a deep breath, and tried to calm herself enough to tell Logan about the night before.

"Cassidy, told me there was a bomb on the plane," she said, looking up at Logan, who watched her with concern. "And he gave me a minute to call Dad, to tell him that I loved him one last time, but he didn't pick up. And then the plane blew up-" she choked out the last part, leaning into Logan's chest again. Logan pulled her close, hating that Cassidy had done this to her. He had ruined the last two years of her life, and now he had ruined the rest of it. Cassidy had taken so much from her, and had taken joy in doing it. Logan just wished that he would be able to put a little bit of her life back together.

"He knew that you loved him more than anything. He never doubted that. Not once." She nodded, knowing he was right, but that didn't make it better. That didn't stop her from wishing that she could have told her father how much she loved him one last time, before his life was taken. She clung to Logan as she thought about this, realizing that she had never felt like she needed someone so much. When Lily died, her father took care of her. He had done the same when her mom left, and every other time she needed someone. She had never had to depend on someone to be there for her. She had always had her father. But now he was gone, and there had been that horrible moment when she had nobody. When she was all alone. And then Logan came and rescued her, just like her father had so many times before. And she had somebody.

"Logan?" she asked, wiping her eyes and looking up.

"Ya, Bobcat?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For not leaving."

"I would never leave you, Veronica."

"No. I mean-" she stopped herself, not sure how to continue. It made sense in her head, but she was no good at sharing her feelings with someone. Suddenly she realized that she had just told Logan she loved him for the first time that day. Apparently the emotionally distraught Veronica was very into feelings sharing. So why not just go for it? "I mean, I've never had to rely on somebody before."

"Well, you are very self-sufficient," Logan smiled.

"It's not just that." She shook her head. "When Lily died, my dad was there. I didn't have to wonder if somebody would catch me if I fell. The same when my mom left, and after Shelley Pomroy's party- even though he didn't actually know what happened that time. My dad always took care of me, without my having to lean on him at all. But when Cassidy blew up the plane-" Her voice caught, as a sob threatened her, thinking of the moment when her father died. She took a second, took a breath and continued. "There was this awful moment, when I didn't have anyone. I was so alone suddenly, and I didn't think that there was going to be anyone to pick me up..." She didn't know how to continue. She had reached the part where she needed to truly express herself, and apparently even though emotionally distraught Veronica liked feelings, she wasn't ready to share them all at once. But it didn't matter, because Logan got it. She could tell by the smile on his face.

"I will always pick you up, Bobcat. From here on out, it's you and me. We'll pick each other up- no questions asked. Always." He kissed her forehead and she leaned into him. She felt safe again. Like she had when she was with her father.

"I think your lasagna is going to be cold now." Logan finally spoke, pulling away from her slightly. "Do you want me to warm it up?"

"No, I'll get it." Logan watched as his girlfriend walked into the kitchen, looking slightly more like the girl he had fallen in love with after Lily died. The girl who had fought tooth and nail for justice. Maybe there was still hope for her.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

After lunch, Logan and Veronica did a little funeral planning. Logan had already set the date, and gotten a minister to conduct the service. Keith would be buried in four days, at the local graveyard. He already had a plot for himself, as well as his wife. Logan was going to let Veronica pick out a coffin if she wanted, but Keith had made that arrangement already. Apparently the man was more aware of the danger his job entailed than he let on. In Logan's opinion, he seemed a little bit too prepared for this unfortunate circumstance. Not that planning ahead was bad. Keith had obviously been trying to make this easier for his wife and daughter, not knowing that it would be his daughter's boyfriend planning his funeral instead.

"You just need to pick out some flowers, and maybe ask somebody to say a few words for him. A close friend or something. You can say a few words too, if you want. But you don't have to." Veronica nodded as Logan explained. She wasn't sure who she could ask. Who was her father good friends with? The only person that came to mind was Cliff, but would he count as a friend? He must have. He was like family.

"I should call Cliff," she said. "He was probably my dad's best friend after he left the Sheriff's department. He should speak." Logan nodded and jotted down the name in the paperwork that the funeral home had given him to help with the process.

"Can you think of what flowers you want? That's the only other thing I need today, then you don't have to think about it anymore until tomorrow." Logan was trying to give her time, but also trying to rush her. He didn't want her to have to focus on Keith's funeral any longer than she had to.

"He liked Daisies," she whispered.

"Okay." Logan jotted that down, and made a note to call the florist later.

"There should be pictures." She said it so quietly that Logan didn't even hear her.

"What was that?" he asked, turning back to her.

"I just said that there should be pictures. At the funeral, I mean."

"Okay. Do you want to look through some photo albums?" Veronica nodded and headed towards a hall closet before pulling out two boxes and walking back over to Logan.

"These are all the photos from before Mom left," she told him as she sat down on the floor and opened the first one.

"I have newer ones, but they're all around the apartment still. I don't want to take them down." She finished the thought quietly. Feeling that if she took the photos down, then he really was gone. She picked up a photo album out of the box and started flipping through it. It was her parent's wedding album. Logan joined her on the floor, pulling her to sit between his legs.

"They look happy," he comments.

"They were," Veronica smiles a little, remembering when her parents were happy. Before her mother's drinking got too bad. Before it started ripping her family apart. She started pulling out photos that she liked, making a pile. She only took a few of her parents. Their wedding picture, and some pictures from when they were dating. Then she started going through pictures from after she was born. It was hard, going through pictures of her father, but it didn't hit her until she turned to the picture of the puppet show from her dream. She never knew that it existed. Her mom must have snuck outside between cooking, because he had only ever done it once. Suddenly it hit her all over again. Her father was gone.

"Daddy," she whispered, tears slipping quietly down her face again. Logan wrapped his arm around her waist even tighter than it had been before. He didn't say anything just held onto her. There would probably be a small bruise, but she pulled his arm tighter. She just needed to know he was there. They sat like that for close to five minutes before Veronica wiped her eyes, took a shaky breath and picked up the photo album again. Logan kissed the top of her head, watching as she quietly started taking out more pictures. They sat like that until all the photo albums had been sorted through, Veronica keeping it relatively together. When they were done, she had a large stack of photos that she wanted to display, but still wanted to pull some newer ones. When they finally got up, it was almost dark outside.

"Do you want some dinner?" Logan asked, pulling Veronica to her feet.

"I'm not hungry."

"Are you sure? Not even some ice cream?"

"I'm really not hungry, Logan."

"Okay," he kissed her forehead and went into the kitchen to get himself something to eat, while Veronica put all the pictures on the coffee table.

"She hasn't even called." She says suddenly, turning to face Logan.

"It's been all over the news. The phone has been ringing all day. My phone has been ringing all day, and it's never been her. Mac's boyfriend killed himself last night, granted it was after he killed a bunch of other people, but he died none the less and she's crushed, and she still called to see if I was okay, but my own mother couldn't be bothered to call!" Veronica was getting angry, how dare her mother not even attempt to check on her. "They were married for 17 years, and she doesn't have the decency to call and even pretend to be sad that he died!" Logan was starting to walk towards her when her facial expression changed again, as fast as lightning, from angry to terrified.

"I don't turn 18 for 7 more months. I'm still a minor." Logan wasn't sure where she was going with this train of thought. What did her age matter?

"I can't live with her. Logan I can't. I won't. I won't go near her again. I made her leave. I can't do it. Logan, I can't be in the same room as her. I won't go live with her. I can't do it." She just repeated it over and over again, working herself into a panic. Logan knew the signs of an anxiety attack, he had seen his mother have many over the years. Veronica was going to work herself up until she had to breath into a paper bag.

"Veronica," he stood in front of her, trying to get her to focus, but she just kept shaking her head.

"I can't do it. I won't do it. I can't."

"Bobcat, look at me." He put his hands on both sides of her head, stopping her from moving and waited until she made eye contact. "Veronica listen to me. It's going to be fine. You're not going to have to live with her. You're going to stay right here. You're going to college in two months. Everything is going to be fine."

She was still breathing heavily, not listening. So he kept repeating himself, following in her footsteps. Only instead of sounding like a panicked lunatic, he kept his voice steady and calm, but firm so that she knew he was telling the truth. She wasn't going to be living with Leanne. No matter what it took, she would stay with Logan. "It's all going to work out. It's going to be fine." He said it one last time as Veronica's breathing returned to normal and she put her head on his chest.

"I think I want that ice cream now."

"Absolutely," Logan smirked at her and kissed the top of her head, leading her to the kitchen table. "Would you like whipped cream?"

"Yes, please." Her voice was so small, like she was a little kid again. All he wanted to do was protect her when she sounded like that. He wanted to be the guardian angel that she needed, but how was he supposed to protect her from her entire life?

As he was scooping ice cream into a bowl for her, the phone began to ring again. Nobody made a move to answer, but as soon as it stopped it immediately began again. This went on for a good five minutes before Logan finally reached for the phone. "Hello?"

"Who the hell are you? Where's my daughter?"

Logan glanced over at Veronica, but decided against giving her the phone. Instead he turned away from her and spoke quietly.

"She's fine. And she doesn't want you here." And with that he hung up.

"Who was that?" Veronica asked absently, picking at her ice cream.

"Nobody. It was a wrong number," he lied. Veronica's phone began ringing soon after that, and when she went to get it Logan jumped up and beat her to it. It wasn't Leanne, however, as he had expected. Instead he saw Cliff McCormack's name flashing across the screen.

"Hello?" he answered, walking back to Veronica.

"I'm looking for Veronica Mars, and as this is her cell phone number, I feel like it shouldn't be this hard."

"Ya, she's right here." Logan handed Veronica the phone. "It's Cliff."

"Hi, Cliffy," Veronica smiled slightly trying to sound brighter than she was.

"Hey, V. I'm really sorry about your Dad. He was a good friend." Veronica looked down at the ground and nodded, seemingly not realizing that Cliff couldn't see her. "Look, V, I know it's late and you're probably tired, but do you mind if I come over. There some things I need to show you that really can't wait another day."

"Ya, okay. Sure. I'll see you soon." She hung up the phone and turned to Logan. "Cliff is coming over. He says that he has stuff to show me that can't wait."

"What do you think it is?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe his will?" They didn't have to guess for much longer, as there was a knock at the door almost immediately. Logan opened it, ushering Cliff into the room and offering him something to drink while Veronica made her way to the couch.

"No thanks. Hey, V." She smiled at him sadly.

"Good to see you, Cliffy. I almost expected you to be here yesterday."

"I would have, but there was a lot of things to get in order for your dad. I don't know if you knew, but I was his lawyer for everything, not just criminal defence. Anyways, there was a bunch of paperwork to deal with, mostly regarding you, since you're technically still a minor. So, the first thing I need to know is if Leanne has made contact with you yet." Veronica shook her head, looking down at her hands.

"I can't stay with her, Cliff. I can't."

"I know. Your dad made that very clear after she left. And even clearer last year, after he got out of the hospital. Veronica, your dad has been prepared for this situation since he was Sheriff. He was even more prepared after your mother left. He has thought of absolutely everything for you. And that includes how to keep you away from Leanne. There were numerous options layed out, including forms for legal emancipation. Whatever happens, we have a way to deal with it."

"What if she demands custody?" Veronica asks, fear in her eyes. "What if she threatens to go to court and I have to live with her?"

"Well, like I said, there are forms for emancipation. He had them signed and legalized, and they can be taken before the court at anytime. However he did have an absolute last resort plan as well."

"What was it?" Cliff sighed and rifled through the folder in his briefcase, handing Veronica a letter. It took her a minute to figure out what it was, but when she did she wasn't exactly sure how to react.

"What is it?" Logan asked, taking it from her hand.

"It's a letter. A letter giving permission of marriage. A notarized, legal letter that says that I have the right to marry Logan Echolls, at the age of 17." Logan stared at the letter in shock. Not shocked that Keith had gone to such lengths to ensure that Veronica wouldn't end up with her mother, but shocked that he had actually written _his_ name. Keith had given Veronica permission to marry Logan in the event of his death. It was like he knew what they had, what they were. He knew that Logan would step up, that he would take care of Veronica if anything like this ever happened.

"And I always thought your dad hated me," Logan said, quirking an eyebrow. Veronica let out something between a laugh and a sob, simply staring at Cliff.

"When did he do this?"

"About six months ago. He wrote a letter to go with it, but I have specific instructions not to give you the letter unless you actually marry Logan as a way to avoid living with your mother." Veronica continued to stare, shaking her head in awe. Keith had known she was in love with Logan even before she had. She didn't know why she was surprised, her father had known her far better than she knew herself sometimes, but this just seemed worse than usual. It was like he knew this was going to happen, and he knew that Logan was going to immediately step in and pick up all the pieces that Veronica was dropping. Veronica couldn't help but smile as she thought about this. If Logan noticed he didn't say anything, just happy that she was happy. At first he had been worried that Veronica would freak out, but she wasn't. In fact, she seemed calmer than she had been in three days. And then the knocking started. It wasn't a polite knock like that of the others who had come to give their condolences, but an insistent pounding, as if Lamb were trying to break down the door.

"Veronica! Veronica open this door!" Leanne's voice came through the door and Logan's head whipped around to look at Veronica. The calm girl from a few seconds before was gone, replaced by one who was shaking in fear.

"No," she whispered and shook her head. "No. I won't go with her. I won't." She was starting to panic again, and Logan quickly jumped into action, trying to ignore the pounding on the door and focus on Veronica. "Veronica. Veronica look at me," he held her face in his hands. "Veronica, you don't have to do anything. It's going to be fine. You're going to be fine. She's just worried. Okay? Veronica? Are you listening to me? Everything is going to be fine." She didn't move, but she had stopped shaking so much.

"Cliff, can you get the door? I'm going to take Veronica into the other room." Cliff nodded and moved towards the door, waiting until Veronica and Logan were safely tucked away in the bedroom before letting Leanne in. "Where the hell is my daughter?!" she screamed, shoving past Cliff and searching the living room. She was drunk. Veronica could tell by the way she enunciated her words, even when she was screaming. "Clifford, where is my daughter?"

"She's not doing very well, Leanne. And currently doesn't want to deal with you."

"I'm her mother! She needs me!"

Veronica started to sob against Logan as she listened to this. She had never needed her mother. Her mother was useless. She needed her father, and he was gone.

"I've got you," Logan whispered. "It's okay, I've got you." It was killing him to watch her unravel like this, when he could so easily make it stop. Wait, he could stop it. He kissed Veronica's forehead and started to get up. "I'm going to go talk to her, okay?"

"Logan, no." Veronica choked out. "Please don't."

"I'll be right back. Okay? Right back."

He walked out into the living area, making sure to close the door behind him. "What the hell are you doing here?" Leanne asked when she saw Logan. "I'm here with Veronica. And you're making her incredibly upset right now, so you need to calm down and keep your voice down. She doesn't want to see you right now, and given what's happened the last couple of days, I think you should give her some space. If you want I can get you a room for the night and you can try to talk to her in the morning."

"What are you talking about? Why are you here?"

"Because he's my boyfriend," Veronica said, stepping out of the hallway.

"What are you doing?" Logan asked, walking over to her. "I told you I would be right back."

"I'm fine, Logan. I just want her to go away."

"Veronica what are you talking about. You hate Logan. He tortured you after Lily died. What do you think you're doing?"

"No Mom, I love Logan. He's quite possibly the greatest thing to ever happen to me. He protects me, and takes care of me."

"I'm your mother, Veronica. I'll take care of you."

Veronica shook her head. "No, you won't. You never did."

"Who the hell do you think took care of you? Your father? He was far too busy working to give a damn about us. I was the one who raised you while he ran around getting himself fired and turning the entire town on-"

"Don't you dare!" Veronica screamed. "Don't you dare talk about him like that. You were a drunk. He was the only person that took care of me. You left us! You walked out the door and didn't give a damn about us, about me!" Veronica swallowed a sob, and Logan moved towards her, worried that she was going to collapse from the way she was shaking.

"I came back. You told me to leave."

"You were still drinking. You wasted my college money! You took it all and then you didn't finish rehab! You tore our family apart! It was your fault! I'm done betting on you! Get out! Just get out!" She collapsed onto the floor, sobbing and Logan quickly reached her.

"Veronica!" her mother rushed towards her, but the look Logan shot stopped her in her tracks.

"Leanne, maybe it would be best if you took Logan up on the offer of a room..." Cliff offered, guiding her away from her daughter.

"She's my daughter, Clifford. I am her mother, and she is a minor. I'm not going anywhere. This is my house and I am not leaving. I have custody now." If Veronica was worked up before, that threw her over the edge. She started breathing even heavier, shaking her head and muttering to Logan.

"It's okay, Bobcat. I've got you. It's going to be fine. We'll go to my place."

"You're not going anywhere, Veronica. I'm sorry, but that's my decision."

Logan looked over and glared at her.

"Your decisions haven't mattered for a very long time. They're not going to start now." And with that, he lifted Veronica off the floor and walked to her bedroom to pack. Leanne yelled after them, but was ignored. Cliff continued to try and talk to her, trying to explain that she didn't have custody yet, but that Veronica was a ward of the state technically. Veronica sat on the bed and watched Logan as he walked around her room picking things up and throwing them into a duffel bag.

"Thank you," she whispered. Logan looked over and smiled at her, before returning to his packing. They were ready to go in under ten minutes, with enough stuff to last at least until the funeral, if not a little bit longer.

"You ready?" he asked, offering Veronica his hand. She nodded and took it, following him out of the room and into the hallway.

"Veronica Mars don't you dare walk out that door!" Leanne screamed, jumping to her feet and attempting to block the door, but Logan just walked past her, pulling Veronica close behind.

"Lady, if you have any semblance of self preservation left, I strongly suggest that you move out of my way."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Veronica was silent the whole drive to the hotel. And then she was silent during the elevator ride up to the penthouse. And then she was silent as Logan lead her to the bedroom. She was silent while she changed into one of Logan's shirts, and then as she climbed into his bed.

"Are you okay, Bobcat?" Logan wrapped his arms around her, and she rolled over to put her head on his chest. "Veronica?" She shook her head, and he could feel tears against his bare chest. He wrapped his arms around her as tightly as he could.

"It's all gonna be okay. I promise. It's going to be okay." She nods against him, but she doesn't stop crying.

"I just want her to go away," she whispers.

"I know. And she will. Cliff will make sure that she does."

She nods, wiping her eyes. "I'm such a mess."

"No you're not."

"I am! I'm a ridiculous mess! I would make myself sick if I was watching myself!" She pushed away from Logan, sitting up on the side of the bed. "I'm an emotional wreck. I'm useless! I can't do anything without crying. I'm pathetic!"

"Veronica," Logan says softly, moving to sit behind her.

"NO! Don't, Logan! I am. I'm ridiculous!"

"Veronica, stop it!" Logan snaps, and she jerks her head back to look at him. "Don't do this to yourself. You're upset. Your dad just died, you're allowed to be upset. If you remember, when my mom died I broke down in the lobby of this hotel. You are allowed to be upset. And you are allowed to be angry. You are allowed to be whatever you need to be, but that doesn't make you pathetic or ridiculous or anything else. It makes you grieving, and there are no rules for that. There is nothing wrong with you. You are perfect." He says the last words quietly, just a whisper into her hair, but she hears them. "And if you think you're a mess," he continues, "I think that you're the most beautiful mess in the world."

Veronica smiled slightly, leaning back into him as he pulled her hair away from her face, and kissed her cheek.

"That was a little cheesy," she whispers as he moves to her neck.

"It's okay to be cheesy sometimes," he smiles against her shoulder.

"Come back to bed," he wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her softly towards him, back under the duvet. She followed him willingly, letting his mouth rove over her, letting him take away her pain. God, if only they could stay like this forever, Veronica thought. Because it was only when Logan was doing what he was doing with his mouth that she could even try to forget how sad she was. And then he stopped. Veronica jerked her head up to look at him, and saw him watching her carefully.

"Why did you stop?" She asks, suddenly self conscious again. Did Logan really find her repulsive? What if that whole speech was an act, and he suddenly realized how much of a mess she was? What if he didn't like her anymore? The thoughts spun through her head faster than Logan could speak, and she quickly pulled her knees up to her chest and started to try and crawl away, but Logan grabbed her legs and held her where she was.

"I just don't want to take advantage of you."

He said it with such sincerity that all her thoughts vanished, and instead of crawling away, she crawled towards him, and kissed him. The kiss started out soft, but quickly became desperate as she tried to pull them closer. Logan broke the kiss, and stared at her again.

"Logan, please," she whispered desperately. "Make me forget. Make it better."

He watched her eyes, trying to decide what to do, and apparently he found the right answer, because he pulled her even closer, and kissed her as hard as she had kissed him, before moving back to her neck, and then her shoulders. Lower and lower and lower until she let go and let him have his wicked way with her.

Veronica woke up the next day happier than she had been in a long time, even before her father had died. She was as happy as she had been when she was with Logan. The thought brought a small smile to her face. She was with Logan again. She thought about her father's letter, how he was the only one who had seen how happy she was, when even she couldn't. Why did it take everything in her life going wrong for her to notice how right Logan was for her? How had her dad seen it, when she was so completely oblivious? Maybe she would never know, but God she was thankful that he had. She curled closer to Logan, as if she was trying to melt into him, making them one person.

"Good morning, Bobcat," Logan mumbled. She could feel him smiling against her shoulder, and it made her smile grow even wider.

"Good morning."

"How did you sleep?"

"Better than I have all week." She smiled, rolling over to face him. "I never want to leave this bed." She put her head on his chest and breathed deeply, pulling the duvet closer around her, while Logan pulled her even closer.

"We don't have to. We can stay here forever and ever."

"If only that were true," Veronica sighed. "She's going to come looking, or at the very least she'll find somebody to come looking for her." They were silent for a few minutes before Veronica spoke again. "Dad wrote you a letter, too. I didn't read it, but I brought it with me."

"Okay, I'll read it later."

"I want you to read the letter he wrote me. The one explaining why he signed the wedding papers." She reached over to the bedside table and picked up the folder that Cliff had given her, pulling out the letters and handing them to Logan.

"Bobcat, you don't have to-"

"I want you to. Really, Logan." Her voice must have sounded sincere to him, because he nodded and took the papers from her.

"Read yours first."

He opened the envelope, sat up in bed and pulled Veronica back into his arms before reading the letter.

_Dear Logan,_

_I know this has probably come as a shock to you, it was definitely a shock to me, but I know that it's the right choice. In the time that you and Veronica have been together, I have never seen her so happy. There has never been a time when my daughter has walked around the house like she had just stepped out of Oz, but she does when she's with you. She loved Duncan, sure, but Logan, she's in love with you. I don't know what your relationship is like right now, but I know that you're going to be there for her now that I'm gone. I trust you more that anybody else in the world to take care of her Logan. I am putting my daughter's life in your hands, and I know that this is the best decision that I could make. _

_You guys have had a rocky relationship, and I didn't think it was going to last, but it has. I don't know what you two have been through, Veronica has kept a lot of it under wraps, but I know that it's been hard. And I know that you fought for her, Logan. You fought harder than anyone I know, and for that you will always have my respect. Logan, if you're reading this letter, I'm dead and Veronica is underage. She's scared, and she's alone and she's so incredibly sad. You need to take care of her. You need to make sure that she never lives with her mother, because you and I both know how damaging Leanne is to her. _

_I never really got the chance to know you, Logan, not after Lily died. I know that changed you, but I think it changed you for the better. Logan, if I was still alive, I think one day I would have been able to love you like a son. Make sure that it's a chance I could have gotten. I know that this is soon, and I don't want this to be a step you take until you have no other options, but I know that you'll be able to make it work. Take care of her Logan. She needs you so much more than she ever needed me._

_Keith Mars_

Logan set the letter down and took a breath. That was a lot to take in. Keith had entrusted his daughter to him, he had told him that he thought he would be his son one day. He sat silently, hugging Veronica close, staring at the page.

"Are you okay?" Veronica looked up at him, slightly worried.

"Ya," he jerked his head up and smiled at her. "Ya, I'm good. Here, you can read it." He offered her the letter, but she shook her head.

"I want that to stay between you and Dad, that's how he would have wanted it," she smiled.

"Well then I don't want to read yours. Wouldn't he have wanted that to stay between you two?"

"No, he knew I would show you. Logan, please."

"Fine," he huffed, pulling the other letter out of the envelope.

_Dear Veronica,_

_I'm so sorry, Sweetie. I'm so sorry. I know that this is the worst thing that could possibly happen to you, and I promise that I tried my best. I did everything I could. I fought to come home to you. Whatever happened, I always fought for you, I hope you know that. And I hope that you can forgive me. I love you, Honey. Always remember that. I love you more than anything in the world, no matter what. And I'm always going to be with you, no matter what happens._

_I know that you're scared right now, and upset. And you're probably confused and angry and everything else you can think of, and that's okay, but Sweetie, don't shut everyone out. I know that your instinct is to curl in on yourself, but please let Logan and Wallace in. Let them take care of you, because I know they will, especially Logan. Which brings me to the second part of this letter. I'm sure you've already thought about your mother. And I know that you can't stand the thought of her. Veronica, you will never have to live with her, not ever. I have taken care of all of it. Cliff has everything, he's probably sitting beside you right now. He's going to take care of you, too. But Logan is going to take care of you more than anybody else. We both know it. I have everything put together for you to get emancipation, but that might now work, she might find a way to fight. So I have included the papers needed for you and Logan to get married. I don't know what your relationship is like right now, but you need him, Veronica. I know you don't always see it, but I did. You may not have thought I liked him, but that kid is the most important person in your life. He's more important than I am, and I have accepted that. Veronica, I have never seen you happier than when you were with him. I know that you two have gone through a lot together, and I don't know the details, but I know what I saw on your face when you thought I wasn't looking. I know how much you loved him even when you were fighting. Even when you didn't trust him. You are in love with that boy, and you can't even see it. Veronica, don't use this unless you have to, but don't write it off. I gave you this for a reason. I trust you. I know that this is the right decision in the end. Please trust me. And please, let him take care of you. This is the only advice I will ever give you from now on, trust Logan. Trust that he will take care of you, that he loves you. Trust him. Let him be what I have been for all these years. Let him protect you. Let him fight your battles when he needs to, and let him stand beside you, always. Take care of yourself Veronica, but don't do it alone._

_I love you, Sweetie. Always remember that. Please, never doubt that I love you. I would give anything to never have you read this letter. You are the greatest thing to ever happen to me, and I wouldn't change a single part of our lives together. You will always be my baby. And I will always be watching over you. _

_Love,_

_Daddy_

Veronica had been reading over his shoulder, and there were tears in her eyes. God she missed him more than she could even put into words.

"That's really beautiful, Veronica." Logan kissed her forehead and pulled her closer.

"He was right. He knew that you were the one that I loved. He knew that you would take care of me when he couldn't do it anymore."

"He was also right in telling you to let me take care of you, and to let Wallace take care of you, and everybody else for that matter."

"I'm trying," Veronica whispers.

"Just promise that you'll never shut me out. That's all I need. Just don't put that wall up against me again."

"I promise."

Logan leaned over and kissed her hard on the lips, and she returned it with the same fervour. She was keeping this promise, even though it might be hard. She wasn't going to ruin it this time.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

While Logan ordered them breakfast, Veronica called Cliff. He arrived right after the breakfast trolley. "How are we doing this morning?" Cliff asked, grabbing a pastry off the cart and sitting on a chair across from Logan and Veronica.

"Alright."

"Okay, so here's the deal. We have a hearing tomorrow at the courthouse for emancipation, but your mother is going to be there. She's going to fight for custody, and V I promise I'm going to try my best, but she has an incredibly good lawyer. I have no idea how she can afford him, but he's going to fight tooth and nail. We need to look at other options."

Veronica nodded, staring at the coffee cup in her hands. Logan put a hand on her knee and squeezed.

"What are all the options?"

"There aren't very many. You have no other living relatives, and unless you can think of somebody who would be able to sponsor you, your only other option is marriage. I know that this is a really big step, but you guys really need to talk about this."

"We know," Veronica nodded.

"Tomorrow, you're not going to need to say anything. I'm going to do all the talking. If the judge asks you a question, just answer honestly. This isn't going to be done in a court room. It's just going to be in the judge's office."

"Can Logan be there?"

"We can make a request, sure."

"Is there anything else we need to know?" Logan asked.

"Leanne is going to try and talk to you again, you need to keep her out. She's desperate. I don't know what she'll try and do. You just need to stay put until tomorrow. Deputy Sacks is going to come and escort you to the courthouse at 8 a.m. If you need anything else, anything at all, just call me." With that, he got up and walked himself to the door.

Once he's gone, Veronica and Logan finished their breakfast, slowly and silently, both digesting what they had just been told. Veronica spoke first. And when she did it was rushed and stuttered.

"Look, I-I know that this is- well, it's- it's a huge step and I know- I know we're young. But-but we really- we really need to talk about this, and- I know it's a lot-"

"Veronica." Logan took one of her hands in his, and put the other to her face. "I'm ready for anything. I love you, Veronica. You mean absolutely everything to me, and I would have asked you to marry me in a few years, once we graduated college. But if marrying you sooner means keeping you safe and happy, then I will marry you in a ditch on the side of the road."

Veronica smiled at the last part, and then took a deep breath.

"You don't have to do this, Logan. I could find another way. I could go live with Mack or something-"

"Veronica." He cut her off again. "I love you. I will do anything for you, absolutely anything." He kissed her and got up off the couch, disappearing into the bedroom, and returning a few seconds later. He knelt down in front of her and took both her hands in his.

"Veronica Mars, you mean everything to me. I will follow you to the end of the universe and back. And I promise, that no matter what happens tomorrow, I will stay with you forever. Be it tomorrow, or four years from now, will you marry me?"

Veronica was torn between crying and laughing.

"Logan,"she muttered, shaking her head.

"I'm serious, Veronica. Marry me."

"Okay," Veronica finally smiled and then she laughed. Logan smiled back at her, and opened up a box to reveal the most beautiful ring she had ever seen.

"Logan, what did you do?"

"It was my mother's engagement ring. She stopped wearing it a few years back, and then she gave it to me. He told me that it was the only thing to remind her that she was in love, and that I should give it to the girl who I fell in love with. I've been planning on giving it to you for a while, I was actually planning for your birthday. We can go get a new ring later, but I figured this would do for right now."

"It's beautiful, Logan. I love it!" Veronica gasped, picking it up from the box and putting it on her finger. If she thought she was happy the night before, she was completely and totally ecstatic now. Keith had known exactly what he was doing when he told her to marry Logan. He just wanted her to be happy, and now she was.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Sacks called up to their hotel room at 7:55 the next morning, and Veronica and Logan were ready. Veronica wore her ring on the opposite hand, and dressed in the suit she had sent Logan to collect for her the day before. They rode to the courthouse in silence, Veronica sitting shotgun, while Logan rode in back, reaching forward and rubbing her arm every once in a while. Veronica simply focused on breathing, and ignoring her thoughts. Her head was a vicious circle of fears and doubts, and she couldn't make it stop. But she had to ignore it, because if she didn't it would get her, and she wouldn't be able to do it.

"Hey, everything is going to be fine." Logan's voice cracked into her head.

"I know, it's just..." She trailed off, unable to put her finger on exactly what it was.

"It's just that you can't stop thinking about absolutely everything in the entire world and that is driving you completely insane. Just try and think about yesterday. Yesterday was good, right?"

"Ya." A smile covered her face. "Yesterday was really good."

"Okay, so just think about that."

Veronica nodded and stared back out the window, replaying Logan's proposal and everything that came afterwords in her head. When they pulled into the parking lot, Sacks got out and opened Logan's door, and Logan in turn opened Veronica's.

"Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," she grimaced and took the hand that he offered, before following Sacks inside.

"Morning, V!" Cliff smiled, trying to be chipper.

"Morning, Cliffy."

"So I spoke to the judge, explained the circumstances, got you a little bit of a pity ride, and Logan can come in with you, as long as he keeps quiet."

They both looked over at Logan, who mimed zipping his lips together and locking it with a key. Veronica gave him a small smile, before following Cliff to an office door.

"Mr. McCormack!" The judge greeted him with a smile as they walked into the office.

"Judge Connors, your Honour!" Cliff shook the elderly man's hand and moved aside to display Veronica and Logan.

"Miss Mars, I'm very sorry for your loss. I knew your father, he was a good Sheriff. He always had my vote."

"Thank you," Veronica whispered, and shook the man's hand, still not releasing Logan's.

"And you must be Mr. Echolls. It's nice to meet you."

Logan nodded and shook the man's hand.

"I asked you to come a few minutes early because I wanted to talk to you before your mother and her lawyer arrived. I understand that you want to avoid allowing your mother to get custody of you, but I don't know if I'll be able to find a legal reason to stop her. Your mother has a good lawyer, and as far as I can see, she has never been proven to be an unfit parent. Do you have an alternative option? A friend whose parent's would sponsor you, perhaps?"

"I- I don't really have friends," Veronica told him, looking down at the floor. "I have Logan. We're engaged."

"You understand that you need a parent to sign a consent form in order to marry him and gain emancipation?"

"Yes, her father left the paperwork signed and in order." Cliff interjected, passing the judge a folder. Judge Connors looked over the files, and then back at Veronica.

"I hope that I can help you today, but it's good to know that you have a back-up plan."

He looked like he was going to say something else, but stopped when the door opened to reveal Leanne and her lawyer.

"Judge Connors! So good to see you!"

"Mr. Matthews. Always a pleasure." Judge Connors smiled kindly, but seemed more reserved than he had with Cliff.

"Hello, Veronica," Leanne smiled and looked like she was going to hug her, but Veronica took a step back, bring Logan arm in front of her.

"Shall we get started?" Judge Connors motioned to the couch and chairs across from his desk, and they all took their seats.

"We are here today to determine whether or not Veronica Mars is valid for emancipation. Mr. Matthews, you may speak first."

"Thank you, your honour. We feel that Miss Mars does not need to be emancipated, as her mother is more than willing to take her in and care for her. Mrs. Mars loves her daughter dearly and would hate to see her have to fend for herself."

"Mr. McCormack," Judge Connors nodded to Cliff, who stood with a flourish.

"Thank you, your honour. In his final will and testament, Keith Mars, father of Veronica Mars, made it very clear that he did not wish for his daughter to live with her mother. He felt that it would be in her best interest to be emancipated, and we move to respect his final wishes."

Leanne looked appalled, and Veronica couldn't help but wonder why, what would have possessed Leanne to think that she was a good mother, that her husband trusted her after she left them.

The judge indicated that Leanne's lawyer had the floor, and sat back, making notes.

"Miss Mars, did your mother ever hurt you?"

"She walked out on my family," Veronica snarked, already angry with the man in front of her. "Does that count on hurting me?"

"I mean physically. Did your mother ever cause you any harm?"

"No."

"Did she take care of you? She fed you and helped you do your homework?"

"When I was younger, sure. When she was sober enough to think straight."

"Your honour, Leanne Mars was the perfect parent. She was involved in Veronica's schooling and took care of her until she was 16."

"But she did leave," Judge Connors pointed out.

"Yes, there were circumstances that forced her to leave, problems with her husband, but that didn't affect her relationship with her daughter. She continued to try and keep contact with her."

"Ha!" Veronica spat.

"Miss Mars," Judge Connors said it like a warning, and she looked down at her and Logan's hands, still intertwined.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"Has Ms. Mars dealt with her drinking?"

"She has attended a rehab facility." The way the lawyer said it, Veronica knew that he was talking about the time Veronica had put her in rehab the year before. When she had wasted all her college money and checked herself out.

The judge nodded, and looked at Veronica sadly. This wasn't looking good.

"Mr. McCormack, you have the floor."

"Ms. Mars, did you complete your rehab session?"

"No, I was able to leave before the sessions were completed, I had control over myself."

"And did you return to your family?"

"Yes, I did."

"Why did you leave again?"

"I- I don't see how that's relevant," Leanne stammered.

"Veronica, why did your mother leave?"

"Because I told her to. She broke Dad's heart, and she took his money. I checked her into rehab with my college money, and she left. She wasted everything I had," Veronica swallowed a sob, and turned into Logan's shoulder. Cliff reached over and squeezed her shoulder, while Logan tried to comfort her.

Judge Connors scribbled furiously, looking like he was trying to figure out time travel.

"Does Miss Mars have the means to live on her own?"

"Her father left her the apartment that they live in, which is completely payed off. She has graduated high school and did so with honours, and is completely capable of doing her own accounting as she handles her father's business, which was also left to her."

"Does she have the ability to take over her father's business?"

"Yes."

"She's a child!" Leanne shrieked.

"Ms. Mars, it is not your turn to speak. I would ask you to be quiet." Judge Connors looked a little frightening, but Veronica couldn't help but give a small smile.

"I would like to have a private word with Mr. McCormack and Mr. Matthews. If the rest of you would kindly wait in the hallway."

Logan and Veronica stood and walked outside, heading for the vending machine. Leanne hurried after them.

"Veronica! Honey, wait! Veronica!" She reached them and grabbed Veronica, turning her around.

"What?!"

"Why are you doing this? Why can't you just come and live with me? You're going to lose anyways, and then what? You could have saved us all a lot of money."

"Because I'm done betting on you! I lose every time and I can't do it anymore, because it's going to kill me!"

Veronica turned away to stop her mother from seeing the tears pooling in her eyes, and pulled Logan towards the bathroom, where she sat on the counter and tried as hard as she could to breath normally again. When he finally thought she was okay, Logan kissed her.

"This is wrong," he whispered. "I mean, a boy in a girl's bathroom it's just-"

"So wrong it's right?" She smiled and kissed him again.

"Exactly. You okay?"

"I've been better. I don't think this is going to work."

"Neither do I, but it's okay. We can go get you a dress as soon as we leave." He kissed her nose and moved away. "I'm going to go and see if they're ready for us again."

He stuck his head out the door, and saw Cliff walking towards him.

"Come on, Bobcat." He held out a hand and led her back to the Judge's office.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Miss Mars, please have a seat."

The way Judge Connors said it, she knew that he was going to give her bad news.

"Would you mind waiting outside?" he asked, looking between Leanne and her lawyer.

"But I want to hear the verdict!" Leanne protested.

"You will be informed in a moment. But first, I would like to explain my decision to your daughter. Thank you." His voice indicated that it wasn't a discussion, and Leanne's lawyer led her out of the room.

"I'm sorry, Veronica, but according to the law, I cannot grant you lone emancipation. Your mother, while not exactly amazing as a parent, is not unfit. However, I am going to grant you emancipation."

"I don't understand."

"I'm going to grant you emancipation through marriage. Your father's letter isn't enough, you need a judge. I'm going to be that judge, but I recommend that you do it quickly. Don't give your mother time to fight. If you can, do it tomorrow."

Logan and Veronica nodded, and Veronica had tears in her eyes.

"Thank you."

"I just wish that I could have done more for you two."

"You've done more than most people would," Veronica looked down at her hands, and then moved her engagement ring to the proper hand.

"So do we have to stick around?" Logan asked. "Because it seems that we have a lot of planning to do."

"No, you're free to go, but why don't you use the back door. I feel like it might be the safer course of action."

They nodded and shook Judge Connor's hand, then waited outside the door for Cliff.

"I'm sorry we couldn't do more, V."

"You did the absolute best you could, Cliffy. Thank you." Veronica hugged him. "Will you come to my wedding?"

"I wouldn't miss it," Cliff laughed and kissed her on the cheek. "Do you need a ride?"

"Can you drive us to the Neptune Grand? Veronica's car is still there." Logan asked.

"Sure."

"So what are we going to do first?" Logan asks, sitting in the driver's seat of the Le Baron.

"Drive to city hall and get married?"

"Don't you want to get some friends? Maybe a dress?"

Veronica thought about that. She really did want Mac and Wallace, even Weevil to be there.

"Maybe..."

"Let's get you to a phone and a store," Logan smiled and leaned over to kiss her cheek.

"Do you want to invite anyone?"

"I guess I could invite Dick, but I don't think he's in the wedding mood."

The weight of that statement hit Logan as he was speaking. He really didn't have a lot of close friends. Now that Duncan was gone, Dick was his best friend. And if Dick was his best friend, why hadn't he called and told him how sorry he was about Cassidy? He made a note to do that later, after he was married to Veronica.

"Where do you want to go?" Logan asked her.

"I have no idea. Lilly always picked the stores-" Veronica's voice fell as she spoke. Suddenly she was stuck thinking of Lilly again.

"V?"

"I always wanted Lilly to stand beside me. And I wanted my dad to give me away. Logan, everything I ever wanted from my wedding is never going to happen, except that I love the guy I'm marrying."

"I know." Logan took her hand in his, rubbing circles with his thumb. "But just because they're not here doesn't mean that they're not with you. Lilly will always be your maid of honour, and in a way your dad did give you away."

"I guess."

"Come on, we'll find you the perfect dress to wear to your wedding."

"Actually, do you mind if I do it by myself?"

"Sure! I'll go get a coffee are something. Are you sure, though? Not that I have to follow you everywhere, but I just don't want you to feel-"

"Logan, I'll be fine." She smiles. "Seriously. If I need you I'll call you."

"Okay."

While Logan sat in a Starbucks and drank coffee, Veronica hit a couple of stores downtown, all of them were full of wedding dresses that cost more than Logan's car, and Veronica was getting upset. She was getting aggravated with the sales people, and she was having a horrible time dealing with this without Lilly. After the fourth store, she pulled out her phone and called Logan.

"What am I doing?" she demands.

"You're looking for a wedding dress, and yelling at me."

"I can't do this!"

"Bobcat-"

"No! I can't do it! Not without Lilly! I don't know how!" She was starting to get seriously upset. Lilly's death hadn't upset Veronica this much in a year. She had made peace, she had found Lilly's killer, this shouldn't be bothering her.

"Hey, hey. It's okay. We don't have to get a dress. You can get married in jeans, or shorts or anything you want."

"I want to wear a dress. I just don't know how to do this without Lilly!"

"Okay, I know I'm no Lilly, but I did spend the last 16 years with her. I do a pretty good impression."

Veronica smiled at him through the phone. And Logan seemed to take her silence as a yes.

"So where are you?"

"Outside a store called 'Bridal Galleria'. Bring me an iced coffee."

"Okay. I'll be there in 5 minutes. Try to avoid having a nervous breakdown before I get there."

When Logan arrived, he pulled Veronica into a hug, watched her shoulders relax and heard her let out a deep breath.

"Alright. We have a mission. We must find Veronica Mars the perfect wedding dress!"

"You don't actually have to impersonate Lilly, you know."

"But it's just so fun!"

Veronica smiled sadly at him and Logan threw his arm around her shoulder.

"Alright, where did you and Lilly like to shop?"

"The mall, but I don't want to go to the mall."

"What about that store where Lilly got her homecoming dress?"

"That store is ridiculously expensive."

"Every store in Neptune is ridiculously expensive. I, however, am ridiculously rich."

"Logan, I don't expect-"

"I'm paying and you're not arguing. Okay, let's find a store." He kissed her on the cheek and pulled her up the street.

"Anthropologie."

"Sorry?" Logan looked back at Veronica, who had stopped in front of a store.

"Lilly always said I should shop at Anthropologie more. You know, back when I was girly and not so-"

"Perfect?" Logan substituted.

"Sure, if that's the word you want to go for."

"Let's go find a dress then."

They combed through the racks for over an hour, and Veronica was getting tired of trying things on. And then she found it. The dress that Lily would have pulled from a rack and demanded she wear to her wedding. It was like Lily was shoving the dress in her face and screaming "Damn it, Veronica Mars! Put it on! Put it on right now!" The dress had a short tulle skirt, and a sweetheart neckline. It was perfect for a city hall wedding. Veronica had seen a lot of wedding dress shows on TV, they always talked about finding their dress and she had always thought they were full of it. Now she got it. This was her dress. Hers and Lily's.

"Hey, Logan?"

"Ya?" He looked up from the rack he was idly searching and saw her beaming at him. "Is that it?"

"Ya, this is what Lily would have picked."

"Let's go try it on."

"You're not allowed to see."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. You can't see it until I get dressed later."

"You're a pain."

"I know." She kissed him on the cheek and walked towards the change room.

"Bobcat?"

"Ya?" She turned to look at him.

"Are you happy?"

"Happier than I thought I could be."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Hey, Mac!" Veronica's voice was an octave higher than usual, and Mac immediately recognized the problem.

"How are you doing?"

"How are _you_ doing?"

"Touche. Seriously, though."

"I'm okay. I'm calling to invite you to my wedding."

Logan looked over at Veronica from the kitchen where he was making her lunch. He raised an eyebrow and she smiled at him.

"Excuse me?" Mac demanded.

"Do you want to come over?"

"Sure, I'll be at your place in like ten minutes."

"I'm actually at Logan's..." Veronica said, dragging out his name.

"I've missed quite a lot in my four days of grieving, haven't I?"

"A little bit. Ten minutes?"

"Ya. You better have food."

"We'll order room service."

Once she had hung up, Veronica walked into the kitchen and wrapped her arms around Logan's waist.

"Whatcha doing?"

"Making you something to eat."

"I'm not hungry."

"You're never hungry anymore. You know, I fell in love with this girl last year, she could eat an entire lasagna by herself. It was the hottest thing I had ever seen..."

"Are you trying to say you don't love me anymore?" Veronica asked, trying to sound hurt.

"No, I'm just saying I find you incredibly hot when you eat." Logan turned around and pinned her against the counter, hands on her waist, mouth on her neck.

"See, and here I thought girls weren't supposed to eat," she smiled, still evading the premise. She just wasn't hungry these days. Eating got in the way of being sad and happy at the same time.

"Veronica."

"Logan." She gasped as he sucked on her pulse point. "Mac's gonna be here any minute."

"She has to knock to get in."

"I have to talk to her."

"I'll stop if you eat."

"You don't understand the concept of bribery do you?"

"Nope."

His hands began to wander, and suddenly Veronica was lifted off the floor and onto the counter, wrapping her legs around his waist.

"I feel like I'm still in high school," Veronica gasped.

And then there was a knock at the door.

"Damnit!" Logan muttered as Veronica pulled away.

"I told you Mac was coming over."

"Will you eat while she's here?"

"Will you kiss me like that when she leaves?"

"I'd do absolutely anything for you," he smiled, resting his forehead on hers.

Veronica smiled and pulled away, heading to the door.

"I'm making you a sandwich!"

"Will you just wait and let Mac decide what she wants?"

"Will you eat room service?" Logan demands as Veronica opens the door.

"Will you stop force feeding me?"

"Hi!" Mac smiles. She looked tired.

"Hey, Mac."

"Hi!" Logan waved from the kitchen, and Mac awkwardly waved back.

"I'm gonna go down to the gym for a bit," Logan smiles, grabbing a large bag and walking towards the door.

"Don't leave on my account."

"You guys should really be alone. Make sure she eats something."

"Get out!" Veronica yelled, pushing him towards the door.

"Please!" he smiled, kissing her on the forehead.

Veronica glanced over at Mac as he did it, but she didn't look sad. She was almost smiling at the two of them. Once Logan was gone, Veronica plopped herself on the couch beside Mac and turned to face her.

"So..."

"So..."

"How are you, Mac?"

"I'm not bad. It's hard, you know? I really liked him, and then he used me. Plus, he was-" She stopped, looking down at her hands.

"I know."

"He killed all those people," Mac choked out. "He raped my best friend. He used me. And still-" She couldn't finish the thought.

"But you loved him." Veronica finished for her.

Mac nodded, trying to pull herself together.

"And it's killing me. I'm angry at him, for what he did for you, and I'm sad that he's gone."

"You're allowed to be sad."

"He was a horrible person!"

"But you loved him, and that is what matters. Not what he did. It's all gonna be okay."

Mac nodded, wiping her eyes. Veronica reached up and wiped her own eyes.

"We're a bit of a mess, aren't we?"

"Ya," Mac laughed. "So what did you say about a wedding?"

"Do you want something to eat?"

"Veronica."

"Logan and I are getting married today."

"I think I'm missing some details."

"My dad left a letter," Veronica started. "I can't live with my mom. She's the farthest thing from stable. So he left paperwork for emancipation, but if that didn't work he left me a letter giving me parental consent to marry Logan."

"It said Logan's name? Your father wrote, 'Logan Echolls may marry me daughter,' on his will?" Mac interrupted.

"Ya. I was as surprised as you, but he was right. I love Logan."

"I know you do. I've been telling you that you do for a year now. Veronica, I'm really happy for you, but why tonight?"

"Leanne showed up the other night. Drunk, and demanding that I was her daughter and that I had to live with her. Which is why we're here. Anyways, Cliff called a judge, and we had a hearing this morning. The judge couldn't give me sole emancipation, but he granted me emancipation through marriage. The judge reccomended that we move quickly, though. He didn't want to give Leanne the time to come up with a better argument and be able to sue again. So we're getting married tonight." Veronica let out a deep breath and sank back into the couch.

"Okay, so a lot has happened in the last few days." Mac supplied.

"Basically. So, will you come to my wedding?" Veronica asked again, a shy smile on her face.

"I wouldn't miss it." Mac smiled and pulled Veronica into a hug. "I'm really happy for you."

"Thanks."

"Now let's eat. Or I think Logan might ban me from coming to the wedding."

"I EAT! I SWEAR TO GOD I EAT! I ATE LASAGNA THE OTHER DAY!"

"And I'm guessing Logan was the one who handed it to you and watched you eat. Where's the room service menu?"

"On the table," Veronica sighed.

"Good! I have to make sure you're being well fed here."

Logan returned to the room an hour later, hoping that they would have covered all the sappy crying stuff. Veronica and Mac needed to do that alone. But just in case, he texted Veronica to make sure it was safe. When he walked in to see Mac and Veronica sitting on the couch, trays of food in front, a movie playing on the TV and and Veronica's laptop open on her lap. Veronica was nibbling at a plate of food while Mac typed furiously.

"What are you doing?" He asked, putting his gym bag on the floor by the door and walking over to sit with Veronica.

"Don't sit beside me. You're all sweaty. Go take a shower."

"You're being very harsh."

"Aw! Veronica, you hurt the poor boy's feelings!" Mac smiled, not looking up from the computer.

"Why did you let her in?"

"Because I like her. And you like me, and now you have to like her because she's my best friend, and you're marrying me today."

"I got a little lost in the middle there..."

"Go take a shower." Veronica smiled, pushing him towards the bathroom. "Did you find one yet?" She turned to Mac as Logan walked out.

"I think so. What do you think of this one?" She turned the computer to face Veronica and show her a knee length cream coloured dress with beading and sequins on the top.

"I love it!"

"Are you sure?"

"Mac, I told you to pick anything you wanted. I like it, but if you like it then go get it. My opinion isn't the important one here."

"Your opinion is very important! It's your wedding."

"I love it."

"Okay. I'm going to go pick it up. It's in a store a couple blocks over. I'll talk to you a little later?"

"Sure. Hey Mac?" Veronica called to her before she got to the door.

"Ya, V?"

"Thanks."

"I'll talk to you later," she smiled and walked out the door.

"Mac gone?" Logan asked, walking back into the living room in nothing but a towel.

"What would you have done if she was still here?"

"I would have continued hiding in the bedroom until she left. So what were you guys doing?"

"Can you please put some pants on?"

"You're so pure. It's adorable. We're going to be married tonight. You should get used to my being naked."

"I love you being naked, but there is a time and place."

"Fine!" Logan huffed and walked back to his bedroom, returning a few seconds later wearing a pair of sweat pants and pulling a shirt over his head.

"See, the shirt could have stayed in the bedroom," Veronica smiled, curling into him.

"You're impossible."

"Mac is going to be my maid of honour."

"That's great!"

"She just went to get her dress."

"That is great, right? You seem upset."

"I'm happy. I want her to stand beside me, it's just-"

"It's just that she's not Lily. I know it's hard. I know that your dad is bringing up a lot of stuff that you thought you had put behind with Lily, but that's okay. You're allowed to be upset."

"You know you're dad died too."

"Ya, but I haven't spoken to him in close to a year. His death is nothing close to a loss. Don't change the subject."

"I'm not. Logan, I'm a giant mess and you've done nothing but take care of me, and your dad died and I don't even know how to help you."

"I don't need help. Helping you helps me."

They sat silently, for a few minutes until Logan spoke again.

"I'm glad you're eating."

"You're such a pain."

"I just want to avoid the 'in sickness' part of out marriage. What are you eating?"

"Chocolate cake."

"Did you order any real food?"

"There's some chicken fingers and fries on one of the trays."

"Will you humour me and eat some of that?"

Veronica sighed and reached for the tray that held the "real food" as Logan called it, taking a chicken finger and nibbling on it.

"See, there is nothing hotter than a girl who eats," Logan smiled squeezing her waist tighter and kissing her.

"You're a bit of a pain, you know that?"

"Yes, yes I do."

Veronica smiled and snuggled a little closer to Logan, until she was practically sitting in his lap.

"Feeling a little lonely?"

"No."

"Bobcat?"

"I just like being close to you," Veronica said quietly, causing Logan to reach over and pull her legs over his lap. "It's a good thing I like keeping you close. Are you tired? You haven't slept the night in a week, probably more."

"I have to find somewhere to get married tonight."

"Why don't we get married tomorrow?"

"No, we have to get married today."

"Let's go now."

"I have to call Wallace."

"So call Wallace."

"I want Weevil to come."

"I'll call Wallace, you call Weevil and we'll get married in an hour, maybe two. Does city hall work for you?"

"The side of the road works for me," Veronica mumbled.

"Aww, you're so romantic, Sugarpuss."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

**A/N: So just a warning in advance that there is some pretty strong language in this chapter. So you might want to skip it if you feel strongly about that kind of thing. That being said this is kind of an important chapter, so try not to skip it. And I just want to say thanks for all of the great reviews. You guys are great**

They called City Hall and booked an appointment for 4 o' clock that afternoon. That sounded so horrible, booking an appointment to get married.

"Did you call Wallace?" Veronica called from the bathroom where she was straightening her hair.

"Yes, he's going to meet us at City Hall. So's Mac and Weevil. Everything is done." Logan told her, walking in behind her. "You look pretty." He cooed, reaching around and kissing her cheek.

"Thank you. You would look nice too if you put on your clothes."

"What? You don't like my sweatpants?"

"I love your sweatpants. They're very comfortable. I don't love the thought of you wearing them to our wedding in an hour."

"I'm going to get dressed right now." Logan promised, walking out the bathroom door and into the bedroom.

Veronica finished her hair and followed him, walking to the closet where her dress was hanging. She stood and stared at it for a few minutes, thinking about what it meant. She was getting married today. She was marrying the man she loved, and her friends were going to be there, but she felt so alone. She was getting married without Lily, and most importantly without her father. She wanted more than anything to be happy right now, and she was. She really was, or at least she was trying to be, but it was hard. There was an all encompassing sadness that went along with it.

"You okay?" Logan asked.

"I'm fine."

"You have your thinking face on."

"I just-" She cut herself off, looking at the floor and then back at her dress. "I just want to be happy. That's all I wanted for my wedding day. I wanted to be the happiest I had ever been, but I can't. Because my best friend is dead and my dad was murdered, and I don't know what to do anymore. But I love you, and I'm happy I'm marrying you. I'm just confused." Tears were welling up in her eyes, and Logan quickly crossed the room, taking her into his arms.

"I miss Lily. And I wish my dad was here. God, Logan, why do our lives have to be so messed up?"

"Because if they weren't we wouldn't be us and this wouldn't be Neptune."

Veronica smiled sadly at him, leaning her forehead on his chest.

"I just really want Lily."

"I know you do. Do you want to go visit her afterwords?"

"Ya, actually." Veronica looked up at him. "That would be really great."

"Okay."

Veronica reached up and kissed him.

"You're pretty great, you know that?" She smiled, wiping her eyes.

"Somebody might have mentioned it once or twice. Get dressed. We're going to be late."

When they arrived at City Hall Wallace, Mac and Weevil were waiting outside. Mac was wearing her dress and she looked beautiful. Wallace and Weevil were both in jeans and button downs. Logan wore slacks and a shirt and tie, and Veronica looked beautiful in her dress. Wallace made the first move, pulling Veronica into a hug, and Weevil quickly followed suit.

"You're looking pretty good, V."

"Thanks, Weevil." Veronica blushed and backed away towards Logan.

"Alright, we have a wedding to go to!" Logan smiled bigger than was probably necessary, and grabbed Veronica's hand, pulling her inside at a bit of a run.

They were ushered into a Judge's chambers, and Veronica and Logan stood in front of a desk, holding hands as they were instructed.

"We should have gotten you some flowers." Mac realized, looking around.

"Maybe next time," Veronica joked.

"I wasn't planning on there being a next time." Logan pointed out.

Veronica smiled and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

"Could you avoid doing that until I've finished?" A man asked, walking in. Veronica jumped slightly and blushed. "I'm Judge Walker. Shall we get started?"

"Sounds good." Logan smiled.

The ceremony went off without a hitch. Veronica successfully kept her nervous breakdowns to a minimum, and smiled close to the entire time.

"You may _now_ kiss the bride."

Logan grinned from ear to ear, then pulled Veronica by the waist and pressed his lips to hers, still smiling. Veronica's friends clapped and Mac wolf whistled. When they pulled away Veronica grinned back at him, and then looked over at her friends. She was really happy right now. Nothing else, just happy. They signed all the legal papers, Mac signed for Veronica and Wallace signed for Logan. Once all the legal stuff was out of the way, they all gathered in the parking lot.

"So where are we going to celebrate!?" Mac asked grabbing Veronica's hands and performing a strange dance that ended with spinning.

"We'll meet you guys somewhere, but first we have a stop to make." Logan said, pulling Veronica away towards his X-terra.

"Mama Leonne's in an hour?" Wallace offered.

"Ya, we'll see you there." Veronica smiled before climbing into the car.

The drive to the cemetery was quiet. Logan held Veronica's hand over the gear shift, rubbing circles with his thumb. Once they had parked, Logan led Veronica to Lily's gravestone.

"Have you ever been here?" he asked, noticing that she was just following behind him.

"Not since the funeral. You seem to know where you're going though."

"I've been here a couple times. On her birthday, and our anniversary. When we started dating."

"Really?"

"I just felt like I should tell her."

Veronica nodded and smiled.

"I dream about her sometimes when I would have needed to talk to her if she were here," she told him. "It was easier than coming here."

"And here we are," Logan squeezed her hand, stopping in front of a headstone. "I'll leave you two alone." Logan walked away, and Veronica realized that he was going to see his mom. She sat down on the grass and sighed.

"Hi Lily. I'm sorry I haven't come see you before now, but- you know why I wasn't here. You don't need me to explain. My dad died this week. He was murdered, by Cassidy Casablancas. That seems to be happening a lot around me. I'm really tired of it. I got married today Lily. I wanted you to be there so badly, but you would have loved my dress." She could almost hear Lily's impatience.

"God, Veronica Mars! Get to the good part! Who the hell married you?"

"I married Logan. I know he was your boyfriend and everything, but I also know that you would have liked us together. I love him Lily, more than anything. I just wish that you could have stood beside me, and that my dad could have given me away. I got married in a courthouse Lily, and that doesn't bother me. It was fine-" She started to tear up.

"I just wish you could have been there. Whenever I thought about getting married, I always saw you standing beside me, and Dad giving me away. I needed you today, Lily. More than I needed my Dad, more than I needed Logan I needed you. I just want you to come back. Dammit Lily!" She choked out a sob. "Why did you have to go and get yourself killed? What possessed you to get involved with Aaron Echolls? God Lily!" From the corner of her eye, she could see Logan walking towards her, but she chose to ignore him.

"You were a bitch sometimes, you know that? I love you, but you're a bitch. And I hate that you're dead, because all I want is for you to run over and kiss me like you used to. Or to find you having sex with the best man in a bush during my reception. I don't care if I find you making out with Logan! God, I don't care what you do! Just come back! Please, Lily! I can't do this without you anymore! I just can't!"

Veronica knew she sounded hysterical, and that she probably looked it, sitting on the ground sobbing and screaming at a piece of stone. She knew Logan was there, but he stayed off to the side, watching and waiting until she really needed him. "I miss you, Lily. I know I've said it a million times, but it's true. I miss you. I just wish you could come back, even if it was just for a few seconds." She sat silently for another minute, still crying.

"I'm sorry, Lily. I'm so sorry." She kept repeating it, over and over until Logan finally came over and sat down beside her.

"Hey, Lil! So I guess Veronica told you about what happened. I know you're probably so excited that Lucifer is screaming at you to calm the fuck down and sit your ass in a chair. We were pretty happy, too." He looked over and put an arm around Veronica's shoulder.

"I know you missed the wedding, but I figured you would want to have a celebratory drink with us." He pulled a flask out of his pocket and handed it to Veronica, who smiled and took a sip, before handing it back to Logan. Logan took a sip himself, and then poured some over the gravestone.

"Here's to us." He smiled, and Veronica leaned into him.

"To us," she echoed. "The three musketeers."

"You ready to go?"

"Ya," Veronica sighed and started to pull herself up. "I'll see you soon, Lily. Sorry I stayed away for so long."

"She'll come back and tell you about the wedding night!" Logan called from a few feet away, causing Veronica to smack him.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"CONGRATULATIONS!" A table full of people jumped up and cheered as Logan and Veronica walked in. Veronica almost started crying, and then she started laughing.

"Congratulations Mrs. Echolls," Logan whispered into her hair. Her smile got even wider, and she reached up and kissed him.

"Congratulations, Mr. Mars!" She whispered.

"That's really not how it works," Logan pointed out.

Wallace seemed to overhear them and raised an eyebrow at Logan.

"Okay, maybe that's how it works a little bit," he admitted.

Veronica smiled up at him and looked around the table. Cliff was there, along with Wallace's mother Alicia. She was surprised to see Leo there, as well as Deputy Sacks. Leo got up and gave her a hug.

"Congratulations, Veronica. I'm glad you're happy. And, I'm really sorry about your dad."

"Thanks," Veronica looked down at her shoes. When she looked back up, Alicia was heading straight for her, tears in her eyes.

"Oh, Veronica! I'm so happy for you, honey. Your dad would have been so proud of you." Alicia stopped, wiping her eyes, and then she pulled Veronica into a hug. "He loved you so much, Sweetie!" Veronica had started crying the second Alicia pulled her into her arms. It was almost like having a mother, a real mother. She felt safe with Alicia, she knew that she would take care of her. There had been a time when she thought Alicia was going to be her step-mother. If her father had married Alicia, Leanne wouldn't have been an issue. Alicia had seemed like an exit strategy for so long.

"Veronica, honey, I'm always here for you. You know that, right? Just because things with your father and I didn't work out, doesn't mean that I don't love you. I will always be around for you, no matter what. Okay?"

Veronica nodded, unable to form the words that she wanted to say.

"Alright, now that I've made us both cry, wipe your eyes and enjoy your party." Alicia laughed, handing Veronica a napkin.

"You okay?" Logan asked as she sat down between him and Mac.

"I'm good."

They spent the next two hours eating and talking and laughing. Until Mac went and spoke to a waitress, who brought out a white cake. A wedding cake. It was simple, one tier with butter cream frosting, but it was definitely a wedding cake. Logan and Veronica's wedding cake.

"Speech! Speech! Speech!" Mac started to chant, and quickly everyone else joined in.

"Okay, okay!" Logan finally waved their chanting away. "Thank you all for coming, we really appreciate it." And then he sat down.

"Boo!" Wallace shouted and chucked a bread stick at his head.

"Veronica?" Mac prodded.

"What Logan said."

"You two are pathetic." Wallace said, shaking his head in disapproval.

"I'm just not in a speech making frame of mind. I'll think about it and get back to you." Veronica smirked at him and took a sip of her coffee.

"Alright. Just cut the damn cake." Mac conceded, handing Logan a knife.

"Wait!" Alicia cried, rummaging through her purse until she found a camera. "Okay, go ahead."

As Logan and Veronica cut the first slice, she snapped picture after picture. And then she continued snapping pictures for the rest of the night. She even managed to get a picture of Veronica shoving cake into Logan's face. When they had finished the cake, she got Logan and Veronica to stand up and take some pictures together. Then they took pictures with Mac and Wallace. Veronica wanted a picture with Weevil, but he claimed that he still had at least part of a reputation to guard.

By the end of the night, Veronica was exhausted, but incredibly happy.

"So?" Logan asked as they got off the elevator and headed to the hotel.

"So, what?"

"Are you happy?"

"Ya," she beamed up at him. "I'm really happy."

"I'm glad." He leaned down and kissed her softly, but Veronica grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. Before he knew it, she had jumped into his arms, and he was holding her up against the door.

"Wait," he breathed putting her down and pulling out the key card. He unlocked the door, pushed it open and picked Veronica up in his arms like the bride she was in one smooth swoop.

"Welcome Home, Mrs. Echolls," he grinned and kissed her as they walked in the door. "Although this may not be home forever, but we can talk about that in the morning," he muttered between kisses. And then the bedroom door shut.

**A/N: Okay, so I know that this is super short, but I kind of wanted to move past the wedding, and get on with other stuff. I do have plans for the wedding, so do not be upset. You will get one that's thoroughly described. Right now I want to deal with Keith and Leanne. Please review! I promise I'll write more soon!**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The next morning after breakfast, Logan and Veronica decided to conquer the apartment. Veronica had to get all her stuff, and then she needed to pack up Keith's stuff. She was just hoping that Leanne wouldn't be there. Of course all those hopes were dashed the second they walked through the door.

"Veronica Mars!"

"Not my name," Veronica said, walking right past Leanne and into her bedroom with Logan in tow.

"So where do you want to start?" Logan asked, looking around.

"Clothes?"

"Suitcases?"

"Under the bed. Are you cool if I run out and pick up some boxes?"

"Ya, I'll get all your unmentionables packed up," Logan smirked at her as she walked out of the room and straight past Leanne. But when she saw what she was doing, she stopped and backed up.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" she demanded, when she saw Leanne packing up pictures.

"I'm packing up the apartment."

"No you're not. This isn't your house. This isn't your stuff."

"This most certainly is my house." Leanne countered, standing up.

"No it's not. You left. When you left, you lost the right to call this your house."

"You kicked me out Veronica!"

"You walked out in the first place! You were taking money from Dad!" Veronica shook her head and took a deep breath. "I want you out."

"Excuse me?"

"I want you to leave. Now."

Leanne stepped towards her and Veronica jumped back, yelling for Logan.

"If you don't leave now I'm calling the Police. Your name isn't on the apartment, mine is. And I want you to leave." Veronica stood her ground, Logan right behind her.

"Veronica Mars you have no idea what you're doing!"

"That's not my name!" Veronica screamed at her.

"Of course that's your name! I named you!"

"My name is Veronica Echolls. I'm married now."

"You're what!?" Leanne practically screamed at her.

"You sat in the Judge's chambers and he told you that I was emancipated through marriage." Veronica said it slowly, like her mother wouldn't understand her otherwise. And then Leanna slapped her so hard that she fell back into Logan.

"Get out!" Logan yelled, pulling Veronica behind him. "NOW!"

Leanne looked stunned at what she had done, and tried to take a step towards Veronica, but Logan stood in her way with a murderous look on his face.

"Leave."

Leanne turned around and walked out the door, mumbling something about being sorry and calling later. Veronica sat on the floor looking equally as stunned as her mother.

"Come on, let's just pack your stuff and go." Logan said turning back to Veronica and picking her up off the ground.

"No. It's fine. I need to do this. I want to get rid of this place as soon as possible."

"Veronica-" Logan started, but she cut him off.

"I'm fine, Logan. Can we please just do this?"

"Okay, fine." Logan put his hands in the air and took a step back. "Where do you want to start?"

"Start with the living room and work our way around?"

"Okay, I'll grab the boxes from the car."

Veronica nodded, took a deep breath and then started to pick up all the pictures in the room and put them on the coffee table. When Logan walked in and saw this, he silently put a box together and started to put all the pictures in. That was how the rest of the day went. Veronica picked things up and put them together in piles and then Logan put them into boxes. It wasn't as hard as Veronica thought it would be, and she was able to keep her crying to a minimum until they made it to her dad's room. Her entire apartment was packed into boxes and ready to be moved to her new life. And now she stood in the doorway to everything she wished she could have back. Logan came up behind her and rubbed her arms, kissing the top of her head.

"Do you want me to do it?" he offered, but Veronica shook her head, wiped her eyes and stepped into the room.

"I don't know where to start."

"The closet?" Logan offered.

Veronica shrugged and opened the closet. The smell hit her before she could even think about touching anything in the closet. Tears filled her eyes again, and she sat down on the floor pulling her knees to her chest.

"Daddy," she whispered.

Logan sat down beside her and she put her head on his shoulder.

"Why don't you let me do it," he offered again and this time Veronica nodded in agreement. As Logan took all the clothes and put them in boxes, Veronica pointed out the few things that she wanted to keep. Keith's sheriff uniform and a few sweaters, one of which she took from Logan and pulled over her head, curling into it like a blanket and leaning against the bed.

"What do you want me to do with these filing boxes?" Logan asked, lifting the boxes off the shelf at the top of the closet.

"They're old case files. I'll put them in a storage locker."

"This is the file on the bus," Logan says pulling one of the boxes down.

"It's pretty useless now," Veronica said passively, pulling a pillow off the bed and lying down.

"Are you okay?" Logan asked, kneeling down beside her.

"I'm fine. I just want to get this over with."

"Why don't you go pack up your room?"

"I don't want to be by myself," Veronica admitted quietly.

Logan smiled sadly at her and sat down beside her.

"I just seem him everywhere. It's hard."

"I know it is. But we'll be done soon. We just have a little bit left."

Veronica nodded and sat up again, then pulled herself to her feet and moved to her dad's dresser, pulling everything out of the drawers and into boxes. She did this without paying much attention, the sooner she got it done the sooner she could leave. By 3 in the afternoon, they had packed up the entire apartment, and Veronica had separated the boxes that she wanted to keep and the ones that could go to the thrift store. The only things that were going to the thrift store were most of her dad's clothes. Most of the boxes were going into a storage locker, other than Veronica's stuff and some of the dishes. Once they had loaded the X-Terra and then unloaded it back at the hotel, Veronica crawled into bed and cried. She cried for her dad, and for her mother, and for Mac and for absolutely everything that she had lost in the last week. Logan came in after a while and layed down beside her, pulling her against his chest.

"It's all gonna be okay, baby. I promise." Logan whispered it so quietly that she barely heard, but she did hear it.

"Don't go anywhere, okay?" Veronica told him, wrapping an arm around his stomach and putting her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

"Never." Logan promised. And he had never meant anything more in his life.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The day of Keith's funeral came faster than Veronica could have imagined. It started off like every other day since her father had died. She woke up with a dull ache in her chest, the vaguest memory of her last dream lingering, causing her to curl closer to Logan and try to forget. Logan would then wake up and pull her close, asking how she slept, even though he already knew. It was like any other morning, and then she looked at the clock and saw the date.

"The funeral is today."

"Ya, it is," Logan agreed.

"I don't want it to be today."

"It had to be someday."

"That isn't a good reason," Veronica told him, turning and looking at him.

"I know."

They lay there silently for a few minutes, before Veronica stood up and went to the closet, pulling out the dress she wore to Lily's funeral and walking to the bathroom. She felt like she was in a dream, just going through the motions. She showered, blow-dried her hair and straightened it, did her make-up and then got dressed. She sat and drank a cup of coffee while Logan got ready, and then she stared at him when he walked out of the bedroom in his suit.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked, picking up her purse and handing it to her.

"Sure." She hopped off the bar stool she was sitting on and slipped on her heels, silently following Logan out the door and into the elevator. She was silent the entire ride to the church. When they walked inside, she stared at the coffin, seeing it, but not actually processing what it was. Logan took her hand and carefully pulled her forward, and over to the side. The priest approached and explained how the service would go, then motioned for them to stand near the door.

"So people can pay their respects when they come in," he explained.

Veronica stood where she was told. She shook hands, accepted a few hugs, thanked people when they offered their condolences, but she didn't know what she was doing. She just stood there hoping it would end soon, but it didn't. People just seemed to be pouring in. Every time she thought she was done, another person walked in. Wallace and Alicia were there, and Mac and Weevil. They all hugged her, then looked at Logan with a questioning look. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Logan pulled Veronica to the front of the church, sitting her down in front of the pulpit. The minister spoke for a while, reading scriptures and talking about how her father was in heaven now. How he had been a good person. And he was right. Keith Mars had been the absolute best person in the whole world, from the time she was 3 years old to the day she died, she would always believe that. Cliff was called upon, and he stood up and talked about how he met Keith, and their friendship over the years. He talked about what a great man Keith Mars was, how he had helped society for years.

"Keith Mars will always be my Sheriff." Cliff smiled sadly, before walking over to the coffin, patting it softly and sitting down again.

"We would like to invite Mr. Mars daughter Veronica to say a few words."

Veronica stared blankly, not knowing what to do until Logan took her hand and lead her towards the podium.

"We'd like to thank you all for coming," Logan started, looking over at Veronica, waiting for her to join in. When she didn't he continued, talking about how Keith was a great man.

"My dad, was the best person I know. He dedicated his life to helping people." Veronica cut in, looking down at the podium. "He died bringing in the bad guy, doing his job. He died helping people-" she stopped, taking a shaky breath. "He shouldn't have died, but he died the way he would have wanted to." And with that she walked back to her seat. And that was her breaking point. Logan sat down beside her, put an arm around her shoulder, and kissed the top of her head. And the waterworks began. She leaned her head on Logan's shoulder and cried quietly until the end of the service.

That was when things really fell apart. People stood and walked past the coffin, paying there respects. Veronica stood beside it nodding politely, but still not paying attention. And then it was Veronica's turn. She knelt down on the floor next to the coffin.

"I'm sorry, Daddy. I'm so sorry." She started to sob. "I know you're not really here, but that isn't making this any easier. Please come back. Please. I'm sorry Daddy. Please don't leave me. Please!"

Wallace and Mac hung back, trying to herd people out of the church so that they couldn't watch Veronica falling apart.

"Veronica," Logan leaned down next to her and tried to pull her to her feet, but she was dead weight.

"I can't leave him, Logan. I can't. He was all alone. He didn't have anybody. I didn't get to say good-bye. I was all he had and he was all alone. I can't leave him again. I can't." She was hysterical, repeating it over and over. Sobbing about how she was sorry, and that she couldn't leave him alone.

"Veronica, he's not alone. He's with you." Logan tried to pull her away again, but she clung to the coffin. "He's always going to be with you, in your heart. Right? You're never going to forget him?"

She shook her head viciously. That was one thing she would never do. She would never forget the sound of his voice or the way he always tried to make her laugh, the way he took care of her even when she didn't know she needed to be taken care of.

"As long as you remember him, he will never be alone. He will always have your memories to keep him company." Logan smoothed her hair as he spoke, trying to sound as comforting as he could. He knew from experience that there wasn't anything he really could say to make her feel better, though. Right now he just had to settle for getting her off the coffin so that she could bury it, and maybe get that last bit of closure that she needed to start the recovery process. Veronica continued to sob, although she had stopped talking about leaving him alone. Now she was just saying how sorry she was. Logan didn't know what she was sorry for, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to talk away what she thought was guilt. He motioned to Wallace, and the two of them pulled Veronica to her feet and began to lead her towards the door. This didn't exactly help the situation. In fact, it did the exact opposite. Veronica started to sob violently again, trying to get back to the coffin, pulling against Logan with what little strength she could muster, starting to hyperventilate again. Mac rushed over and tried to help calm her down, but nothing was working. She wasn't even making sense anymore. It was just sobbing and muttering noises that nobody could make out. All Logan knew was if she kept up like this, she was going to end up hurting herself. So he took matters into his own hands, scooping her up and carrying her out to his car.

"No! No! Please! Put me down! Logan stop!" Her screams and sobs attracted attention as they exited the church, but Weevil jumped forward and started to yell at people to "mind their own damn business" as he followed them to the car. Mac opened the passenger seat, but Logan shook his head and motioned to the back. He gently put Veronica down and then motioned for Mac to get in with her, before quickly closing the door to stop her from falling out. He could still hear her yelling when the door was shut, and it broke his heart. He couldn't stand hearing her so torn apart, and it killed him to know that there was nothing he could do about it.

"Are you going to take her to the cemetery?" Wallace asked, glancing through the window to see Mac trying to talk to calm Veronica down.

"Of course. I don't care if she makes a scene, it's her father."

"Okay, we'll be right behind you."

Logan thanked him and jumped into the driver's seat, turning around to look at Veronica. She was laying down with her head in Mac's lap, crying quietly. He reached out and took her hand, squeezing it tightly and bringing it to his lips.

"It's gonna be okay," he whispered, and she squeezed back. Maybe it would be okay.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The cemetery was even more painful to watch than the funeral. She looked so empty, and broken standing beside her father's grave crying. The sobs that had come so hard that they made her shake had gone, and she was still- almost like a doll. Logan led her forward, took her hand and poured dirt into it, before holding it over Keith's coffin and pouring it out. There were far less people here than there had been at the church- only close friends. Alicia was the last to step forward. Her hands shook and Wallace stepped forward to hold her hand, but she shook him off.

"Good-bye Keith." she smiled sadly and dropped the soil onto the wood box in front of her, then turned and squeezed Veronica's hand. Once Alicia had moved away, a man stepped forward and pressed a button, and the coffin began to descend. Almost in sync, Veronica sank to the ground beside the hole in the ground. She was still crying, but it was so minute. Like she had given up. And in that moment, Logan felt his heart smash into a million pieces. Mac made like she was going to help Veronica up again, but Logan shot her a look that stopped her in her tracks. As the coffin lowered, so did Veronica's shoulders, and the body wracking sobs returned. That was when Logan sat down beside her. She barely acknowledged him at first, then she layed down on the ground putting her head in his lap, watching silently as they filled in her father's empty grave. Slowly, people started to leave, starting with Cliff, and then Mac- who had to attend Cassidy's funeral across town. Finally it was only Logan, Veronica and Weevil.

"Veronica?" Logan brushed her hair out of her face, trying to get her to look at him, but she just stared at the mound of dirt in front of her.

"How you doin, V?" Weevil asked, kneeling down in front of her, blocking her view.

She was still silent, but she sat up a little, trying to see around him.

"Hey V, did you see what your boy here put on the stone?" Weevil asked again, smiling a little and offering her a hand.

She shook her head and ignored him, still staring at the empty dirt. There was a small bunch of flowers at the head of the plot, right under the stone. Alicia had put them there.

"C'mon V, check it out." Weevil put his hand out again, and this time she took it, allowing him to pull her to her knees and point to the inscription.

Keith Mars

Loving Father of Veronica Mars

Patient Husband of Leanne Mars

The Best Sheriff Neptune could ask for

Veronica read it over and over, until finally a small smile found it's way to her lips. Logan kneeled behind her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you."

He wasn't sure if she was talking to him or to her father, but it didn't really matter. He knew that they both heard her. She sat there for a few more seconds, and then pulled herself to her feet, and started to walk away.

"V? Where you going?" Weevil called after her.

She ignored him and kept walking, but when he tried to follow Logan held him back.

"She's going to see Lily. Give her a bit of a head start."

Veronica stood at her best friends grave for the second time that week, still unsure of how she felt. Last time she'd been angry with her, but today she was unsure. So she just started talking.

"I buried my Dad today. He's just a little bit over there," she pointed in the direction of her father's grave and could see Logan and Weevil still standing there.

"But he's not really there. It's just an empty box. I don't know where he is." She looked up at the sky, thinking about whether or not her father's body, any part of it, would ever be found. If she would ever have something to bury. But that didn't matter right now.

"Look, I don't know where you are, Lily, but I see you. I see you all the time. I saw you the day the bus crashed. You're the reason that I'm not dead." She stared at the ground, willing herself not to cry again. She had to get this out.

"You better find my Dad and tell him to haunt me! So help me Lily, if you can do it so can he. Every favour I never got to collect on, this is it, right here. Find my Dad and help him."

"_God, Veronica Mars! So demanding!" _

She knew that Lily wasn't really there, but it didn't matter. It was always comforting to see Lily, even if it was in her imagination.

"_Wasn't saving your life enough?"_

Veronica stared at her best friend, raising an eyebrow.

"_Fine, fine. God, I have to do everything in this relationship!" _Lily smiled at her, and then reached out and took her hand. _"I'll find him. Don't worry. It's going to be okay. I promise. If anyone can teach your Dad how to haunt people, it's me. Look how good I am at it. You actually think I'm here. Don't worry, I appear to Logan too. I always give him really good relationship advice."_ Veronica could hear the mocking in her voice, and see the wicked grin, and she laughed.

"I love you, Lily."

"_Back at you, Ronnie."_

And then she was gone, and Logan and Weevil appeared.

"How's Lily?" Logan asked her, as if it were the most normal question in the world. At that moment Veronica was glad that Weevil was the only one still there. He was the only one who would understand this, because she knew that he had loved Lily.

"She's going to teach my Dad how to haunt me," Veronica gave a small smile and wiped her eyes.

"How helpful of her." Logan leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "Are you ready to go?"

Veronica looked between Lily's and Keith's graves, took a deep breath and then nodded.

"Alicia invited us over for dinner, but I told her that I'd have to talk to you," Logan told her as they walked back to the car.

"Can it just be you and me tonight? I don't want to do people."

"It can be you and me every night," Logan assured her, squeezing her hand.

"And that's my cue," Weevil spoke up finally.

"You don't have to go," Veronica told him, grabbing the sleeve of his jacket.

"Thanks, but I think I'm going to go and have a chat with Lily." A small smile graced his lips and Veronica smiled back before reaching up and hugging him.

"Do you see her too?"

"All the time," Weevil assured her, then shook Logan's hand and headed back into the graveyard.

"She told me that she gives you relationship advice."

Logan looked over at her quickly, before turning back to the road.

"Does she?" Veronica prodded, kicking off her heels.

"Sometimes. She likes to tell me that I'm an idiot."

"You're not an idiot."

"Not anymore, I married you. That was all she wanted from me since the day we started dating. She would appear in my dreams, complaining that we were broken up, or that I had done something stupid and how I couldn't jerk around her Veronica Mars because so help her she would haunt the living shit out of me- and not in the good way."

Veronica smiled as he spoke, thinking of Lily haunting people she didn't like. She definitely did it- she probably haunted Madison Sinclair, that seemed very Lily.

"I'm glad we made her happy."

"Me too," Logan assured her.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

They spent the night alone, eating room service. Veronica told stories from when she was a little kid, about how her dad used to take her on trips to the zoo and the park, and try to convince her that they had found her in the top of a tree when she was a baby.

"I really did know the felonies before I knew the states," she smiled over her creme brule

"Seriously?"

"Ya. My dad used to quiz me when we went on field trips. I always forgot Delaware, but I never forgot any of the felonies."

"So you're 8 years old and you and your dad are driving to the zoo, and he says 'Veronica let's name the felonies. What are the four levels of homicide?' And you said-"

"Murder- in the form of a felony, manslaughter, negligent murder and vehicular murder."

"You are never going to stop surprising me, are you?" Logan smiled at her.

"Nope." She smiled back, popping the 'p' and leaning forward to kiss him, then lying down with her head in his lap.

"Tired?"

"Just a little tiny bit," Veronica yawned, and held up two fingers.

"You should go to sleep. It's been a really long day. Go on, I'll be there in a minute."

"What are you doing?"

"I just have to call someone."

Veronica nodded vaguely, and stumbled towards the bedroom, closing the door behind her.

Once she was out of the room, Logan picked up his phone and dialled.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Dick. It's Logan."

"Bye!"

"Dick wait!"

"Why?"

"I'm really sorry about Cassidy."

"I didn't see you at the funeral."

"I was a little tied up trying to get my wife away from her father's grave. The grave that _your_ brother put him in, but that's not the point. I really am sorry about Cassidy. It shouldn't have ended that way."

The other end of the line was silent. And Logan looked down at the floor before taking a deep breath.

"Look, I just want you to know that I'm here for you. If you need someone."

The silence continued, and he was just about to hang up when Dick spoke again.

"You married Veronica?"

"Ya, I did. It's a long story."

"Maybe one day I'll want to hear it. I'm going to stay with my dad for a while. Bye, Logan."

Logan sighed and shut his phone. He had called. That was all that mattered. He had called and tried to help Dick, now he just had to wait and see if he would take it.

Veronica woke up early the next morning, and began unpacking her stuff. There was some kitchen stuff that she had wanted to bring with her, and all of her toiletries to put away, along with some pictures that she put out. Most of them were of her and Logan, but there was a few of her and Keith scattered in the mix, along with some pictures of her and Lily.

"You've been busy." Logan yawned, stumbling towards the coffee maker.

"Is it okay? I can take them down if-"

Logan cut her off with a kiss.

"It's great. This is your place too now, right?"

Veronica smiled back appreciatively.

"I just wanted to make a fresh start. I want to start moving forward and getting back into the swing of things. I took a week to be sad. Now I need to start trying to put things back together again."

"That sounds like an excellent plan."

"I thought so. I'm going to go grocery shopping in a little bit, after I unpack my clothes."

"Grocery shopping?"

"I like to cook, it's fun. Why not use the kitchen if it's here." She shrugged.

"Look at you, just like a proper housewife." Logan smiled widely and kissed her.

"Don't get used to it. I'm just overcompensating."

"Could you overcompensate some of those incredible cookies you made for Christmas the other year?"

Veronica laughed, remembering how Logan had eaten the entire tin that she had brought, intending to give it to Duncan.

"I think I can scrounge up a reason to make them."

"Do you need any help?"

"No, I'm going to go and unpack my clothes, and then I'll see how I feel. You can come grocery shopping with me if you want."

"Sure."

Veronica smiled at him and walked back into the bedroom.

She had packed almost all her clothes, except the ones that she had grown out of years ago and never gotten rid of. Therefore, when she got to the bottom of the suitcase, her homecoming dress sat staring up at her. Visions of that night flooded her mind. Lily standing up in the sun roof, never have I ever on the beach.

"_Logan, what did you think of Veronica the first time you saw her?"_

"_I don't know, I thought she was hot."_

"_I was 12 when you moved here!"_

"_Ya, like you weren't working it in your shorts and knee socks."_

"_That was my soccer uniform!" Veronica cried, punching him in the arm._

"_Whatever, it totally worked!"_

"Veronica?"

She looked up to see Logan watching her.

"What are you doing?"

"Just thinking."

"About what?" He plopped himself down on the bed and leaned back, staring up at her.

"Homecoming dance."

"What, do you miss it?"

"No, I was thinking about the one we went to with Lily and Duncan. When she asked you what you thought when you first met me."

Logan smiled and reached for Veronica's hand, pulling her onto the bed beside him.

"I still stand by my answer. You rocked those knee socks!"

Veronica laughed and shook her head, rolling her face into Logan's shoulder.

"You're ridiculous," she mumbled as he kissed her temple.

"Come on, it's time to grocery shop." Veronica grabbed Logan's hand and pulled him off the bed.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

**One Month Later...**

Veronica and Logan were doing better, a lot better. Veronica was starting to associate with people again, going out with Mac every once in a while, she had even gone to a party with Logan, although that had only lasted about an hour. But something was better than nothing. She had also taken to visiting Lily more often, it seemed to help her deal with things. She was also talking to her mom, not all the time, but more than usual. She had shown up at the hotel room a few days after Keith's funeral.

"_Look, she's doing really well." Logan blocked the door, trying to speak quietly. "I really don't think you should be here."_

"_Logan, who's there?" Veronica walked towards the door, wrapping one of his sweaters around her, but stopping dead in her tracks when she reached the door._

"_What do you want?"_

"_Veronica, please." Leanne was almost begging her. "Just give me five minutes, that's all I'm asking."_

"_You have two." Veronica crossed her arms, and Logan opened the door a little wider, letting Leanne step into the entrance way._

"_Veronica, I'm sorry. You can't understand how sorry I am. I messed up, I know that. I know that better than you think I do. I know that I can't make up for the things I've done and for the pain that I caused you. I know I don't deserve it, but I'm begging you. Just give me another chance. Please. I don't want to lose my husband and my daughter in one foul swoop." Leanne was in tears by the time she finished, and Veronica almost believed her._

"_You know, I've heard this speech before. Why should I believe you now?"_

"_You shouldn't. I'm just asking you to give me one last chance."_

_Veronica stared, unblinking, unsure what to think, then turned and walked away._

"_Veronica!" Leanne tried to follow her, but Logan stepped in her way._

"_I need some time to think." Veronica told her, then disappeared into the bedroom._

"_Here's my number, in case she decides to call me." Leanne had given Logan a paper with her number, which he had stuck to the fridge._

Veronica had decided to call Leanne a few days later. They had a standing Tuesday afternoon coffee date, which had various outcomes, depending on the day. After the first date, Veronica had come home and cried for two hours. The next time she was happier than Logan had seen her in weeks. But whatever happened when she came home, there was no denying that her weekly coffee with Leanne helped, if only to stop her from feeling like her entire family had abandoned her. When Veronica came home this time, however, she ran straight for the bathroom.

"Veronica?" Logan got off the couch and followed her, but she slammed the door in his face. And then the retching began. "Veronica let me in!" he knocked on the door and tried the handle, but it was locked. "Veronica!"

She continued to ignore him until he picked the lock. Veronica was sitting on the floor in front of the toilet, throwing up everything she'd eaten for what looked like weeks. Logan quickly got over how gross the situation was and stepped forward, pulling Veronica's hair out of her face and rubbing her back.

"So, was lunch really that bad?" Logan asked as Veronica rinsed her mouth.

"No, it was fine. I've just been feeling really sick lately." Veronica explained, pulling herself off the floor.

"Why don't you go try and get some rest and I'll bring you some Gravol."

Veronica nodded and head to the bedroom, shedding her clothes as she walked, and picking up one of Logan's shirts off the floor.

Logan wasn't surprised that she was sick. Veronica hadn't stopped moving since the day after her father's funeral. She had thrown herself into finishing her father's caseload and shutting down the business then moving everything out of the apartment. Then she decided that they needed a honeymoon. Logan suggested that they go to New York, like Keith had planned, but Veronica had vetoed the idea almost immediately. It was too soon. Instead, they decided on Hawaii.

"You realize that we already live right beside the beach, don't you?" Logan had asked her when she showed him the website.

"Ya, but I don't want to honeymoon in my own backyard! We have to go somewhere beautiful!" Veronica had made the argument for a week, until Logan had finally agreed to it.

Veronica planned a week in the middle of August, just before school started again. After she had finished planning the perfect vacation, she had turned to Universities. Veronica had gotten into a number of schools, most of which Logan had also been accepted to, but she had finally decided on Hearst. They had offered the biggest scholarship, which was incredibly important since she didn't have a lot to spend on college. Cliff, as the executor of Keith's will, sat down with Logan and Veronica to show them what Keith had put aside for College. It was enough to cover what Hearst wouldn't, and start investing for any school afterwards. Now, four weeks later, Logan was incredibly unsurprised that Veronica had the flu. She had really brought it upon herself.

"Take these, and drink this." Logan held out his hands and offered his wife a handful of pills and some Gatorade.

"Why are you handing me something purple?"

"Because it helps to hydrate you. Drink it."

"It's purple."

"Veronica."

"Fine!"

"Try to get some sleep," Logan kissed her forehead. "I'll check on you in a little while."

Veronica stayed in bed for the rest of the day, sleeping and thinking about why in god's name she was feeling so crappy. When she got up the next morning, however, she felt completely fine.

"It was probably just food poisoning," Veronica waved Logan off as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

"You should see a doctor."

"It was one day!"

"I'm serious, Bobcat! Do you want to be sick for our 'honeymoon'?"

"Why are you putting air quotes on the word honeymoon?" Veronica changed subjects seamlessly.

"Because honeymoons are usually taken the day after a wedding, we're a little late to the party. You should go to a doctor."

"I'll make you a deal," Veronica offered, putting her mug down. "I will go to the doctor, if and only if, I am sick again in the next week. Okay?"

Logan was about to speak, but Veronica interrupted.

"And feeding me anything that will make me sick is not an option. And trust me I will know. Take it or leave it."

"Fine," Logan grumbled.

Veronica smiled and walked out of the kitchen.

"I'm meeting Mac later today and we're going school shopping. Do you want me to pick up your books and stuff too?"

"Yes! More than anything in the world!" Logan dropped onto the couch beside her and turned on the TV.

"Do you have a list?"

"What's a list?"

"You know, like in Harry Potter when Hogwarts would send them lists of all the books and crap that they needed. Did you get your Hearst Hogwarts List?"

"Did you think that made sense when you said it out loud or are you already aware that that only worked in your head?"

"I thought it made complete sense!"

"Okay, Sugarpuss. Whatever makes you happy."

"You can't tell Logan." Veronica mumbled to Mac after she pulled her car over and threw up on the side of the road.

"Veronica-"

"Seriously! If he finds out he'll cancel our trip and send me to the doctors."

"But, Veronica-"

"Mac!"

The look on Veronica's face made Mac think twice about arguing again.

"Are you sure you're okay to go shopping?"

"I'm fine. I'll feel better in a minute." Veronica took a sip of water and rinsed her mouth out, then sipped on the water for a few seconds, blasting the air conditioning.

"Veronica..."

"I promise Mac, I am completely fine."

"You haven't stopped moving in over a month, it's normal for it to catch up with you."

"I'm fine, I just have a little bit of a bug. So should we just head straight to the mall or do you want to try some smaller stores?"

"The mall is fine." Mac sighed in resignation

Halfway through shopping, Veronica and Mac stopped in the food court to grab smoothies.

"I'm just gonna run to the washroom. Can you get me a pomegranate smoothie?" Mac asked.

"Sure." Veronica smiled and waved away the money Mac offered her. "My treat."

Mac knew better than to argue, especially after what she was about to do. Once she was out of ear shot and around the corner where Veronica couldn't see her Mac pulled out her cellphone and called the Neptune Grand.

"Logan Echolls room."

The phone rang a few times before someone picked up.

"This is Logan."

"Hey, Logan. It's Mac-"

"What's wrong? Is Veronica okay?"

"Wow, you really do worry a lot."

"That's what happens when your first girlfriend was murdered by your father, your mother killed herself and your dad tried to kill your current girlfriend whose father was just murdered." Logan explained, trying not to sound as worried since Mac wasn't overly worried.

"Point taken. Veronica's okay, it's just-"

"She was sick and made you promise not to tell me and because of that you are now hiding somewhere where you don't think she can hear you and telling me."

"It's really creepy how you can do that."

"You know what else is creepy?"

"What?"

"She's going to find you sometime in the next five seconds and immediately know what you're doing."

"Come on Logan, you can't-"

"MAC!" Veronica cried in an outrage behind her.

"I tried to warn you," Logan laughed.

"It was for your own good!" Mac argued, handing Veronica the phone while she glared at her.

"Hi, Sugarpuss. How you feeling?"

"It was just a little motion sickness!" she tried to argue.

"You don't get motion sick. I'm calling your doctor and making an appointment."

"Logan!"

"I love you." Logan cooed before hanging up on her.

"I hate you." Veronica glared, handing Mac back her phone.

"I tattle because I care," Mac gave her the puppy dog face.

"You're shameless."

"I got it all from you. Now, would you like to continue shopping or are you too mad at me to be faced with more of this horrible torture."

"Come on." Veronica huffed, handing Mac a smoothie and trudging back into the mall.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Pregnant was not a word in Veronica's vocabulary. Or at least it hadn't been until five seconds ago when her doctor had opened her file and said: "Congratulations, you're pregnant!"

"Excuse me?"

"Pregnant. You're going to have a baby, Veronica."

"No I'm not. I have the flu. I've been completely overworking myself since my dad died and it's caught up to me and I have the flu."

"No, I'm sorry Veronica, but you don't. You're definitely pregnant. I saw them run the blood test myself."

Veronica stared at her doctor, trying to process what he was telling her while he droned on about pre natal vitamins and OB/GYNs.

"Veronica, are you alright?"

"You just told me that I'm pregnant. How do you think I'm doing?" Veronica snapped.

"I know that this is difficult for you. Do you know who the father is?"

"My husband." Veronica snapped.

"So you have support. You're already doing better than half the girls your age."

Veronica couldn't stand the tone of condescension in his voice, she had to get out of there.

"Is that all?" She asked, standing up and grabbing her purse.

"You need to make an appointment with a OB/GYN as soon as possible. And this is a prescription for you pre-natal vitamins. Get this filled at the closest pharmacy and take them twice a day when you wake up and before you go to bed."

"Thanks." She took the paper and walked out of the office and into the waiting room, where Logan was sitting waiting for her.

"How'd it go?" he asked, jumping up and following her out the door.

"Let's just go home."

"Veronica!" Logan jogged to catch up to her.

"Logan, I'm serious. Can we please just go home?" Veronica snapped, wrenching the car door open and throwing herself inside, accidentally dropping the prescription.

"Wait, Logan!" she tried to grab the paper before him, but she was too slow.

"Veronica? What is this?" Logan asked, kneeling down beside her door.

"It's exactly what it looks like, Logan. Now can we _please_ go home!"

"Veronica you're-"

"Logan I am begging you! Please, if our future happiness means anything to you, get in the car and leave this alone until we get home. Please."

Logan looked like he was going to say something, but then thought better of it when he saw her face. His instinctive fear of her kicked in, and he crossed to the other side of the car and kept silent the entire drive.

When they got back to the hotel, Veronica stomped into the bedroom and slammed the door, but Logan followed her.

"Veronica?" Logan sat down on the bed beside where she was lying face down.

"What?" She mumbled through the pillow.

"You're pregnant."

"That does seem to be the consensus."

"Okay then. Judging by your current position, you don't seem thrilled about this."

"Are you?" Veronica demanded, turning over and sitting up.

"You're pregnant, not dying. Kids are good."

"Not when you're going on your honeymoon in a week and starting college two weeks after that! Logan, this is the absolute worst time for this to happen! We are nowhere near ready to have a baby!"

"Veronica, I think you need to take a breath. Okay?"

She glared, but followed his advice, giving him a chance to speak.

"I know that this is a really bad time for this to happen, and I know that we are the exact opposite of what some people would consider parental material, but it's going to be okay. I promise you. Let's worry about how horrible the timing is later. For now, let's think about how half of you and half of me is gestating inside of you right now. As your husband, I have to tell you that's kind of cool." Logan gave her a small smile and put his hand on her stomach.

"Logan," Veronica started to argue, but he stopped her.

"Sugarpuss, we're having a baby."

Veronica smiled, if only at the absurdity of that sentence coming out of Logan's mouth.

"Ya, we are. I still think this is a bad idea, though."

"That's okay. You'll come around to it sooner or later. Hopefully before the nine months are up, but if I need to be the Stan to your Darcy if the situation arises."

"Logan, there's a reason I wasn't planning on having kids. What if I wind up like my mom?"

For the first time since the week her father died, Logan saw fear in Veronica's eyes.

"Veronica, I'm just as scared as you are. What if I end up being like my dad?" Veronica opened her mouth to stop him, but he put up a hand.

"And I know that you don't believe me, but I'm just as scared about this as you are about turning into Leanne."

"You're not going to be your dad."

"Why not?"

"Because you lived through that. You would never subject your own kid to that, and I'm never going to let that happen, no matter what."

"See, that works both ways."

Veronica stared at him. How did he always know what to say to calm her down and make her life make sense.

**A/N: Okay, so I know that a lot of you are unhappy with the turn that I just made in this story, and that's fine. But, I would like you to know that this isn't going to be a lovey-dovey LoVe family story. It's still going to be Veronica Mars.**

**That is all. **

**I really hope that you guys keep reading, and I really enjoy your reviews.**

**Thanks for all the support, I really appreciate you guys!**

**Em**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Once Veronica had gotten over her anger, and some of the fear of being pregnant, she had launched herself into research and preparation mode.

"I need to find an OB/GYN, and I need to get books. Lots and lots of books." she told Logan, writing in a notebook while she sat at the kitchen table the next morning.

"You need to fill that prescription still," Logan reminded her, sitting down across the table.

"Right."

"You also need to tell your mother."

"No I don't," Veronica said flippantly, getting up and pouring herself another cup of coffee.

"Isn't coffee bad for pregnant women?"

"Probably," Veronica shrugged.

"You have to tell Leanne."

"No, I really don't."

"Yes, you do. She's your mother, it's kind of important to tell her she's going to have a grandchild."

"No it's not."

"Veronica-"

"I'm not telling her. At least not yet. Most people don't tell anyone for the first six weeks."

"But you will tell her at some point?" Logan edged. "Preferably before it's born?"

"Sometime in and around there, sure. Now, I'm going to get dressed and go to the bookstore." She walked out of the room before Logan could push the issue anymore.

"Okay, so it looks like you're about 5 weeks along," the ultrasound technician was looking at a screen, which looked like a blurry mess to Veronica, but apparently told the technician quite a lot more. "Everything looks normal, it's a bit too early for you to hear a heartbeat, but I'll go and print you out a picture. The doctor will be here in just a minute."

"Thanks." Veronica breathed a sigh of relief as the tension in her cervix was released and the tech left.

"So that looked like fun," Logan smiled, trying to cut the tension in the room.

"Ya, it was almost as much fun as going to an amusement park." Veronica glared at her husband.

"Hi! I'm Dr. Andrews!" A young woman walked into the room wearing a white lab coat and slacks, and carrying a file folder. "You must be Mr and Mrs Echolls."

"Veronica."

"Logan. Are you actually a doctor?"

"Logan!"

"Yes, I am." Dr. Andrews laughed. "I finished medical school two years ago."

"How many babies have you delivered?" Logan asked, ignoring the looks Veronica was giving him.

"150, and every single one of them has been healthy. Any other questions?"

"Not at the moment."

"Alright. So, Veronica, how are you feeling?"

Veronica glared at Logan for another few seconds before turning her attention to the doctor.

"I'm fine."

"Any nausea? Fatigue?"

"A little nausea, and a lot of fatigue." Logan answered before Veronica could deny it.

"Alright, that's completely normal. You're probably going to start feeling a some pressure on your bladder soon, and I'm not going to lie to you- it's going to get pretty damn annoying."

Veronica laughed quietly, she liked this doctor.

"You've cut alcohol out of your diet?"

"Yes."

"How old are you, Veronica?"

"18, my birthday was just a couple weeks ago."

"That's nice. Did you do anything fun?"

"We just went out for dinner. Is there anything else we need to know?" Logan wasn't liking the questions at this moment, he knew that they would start making Veronica nervous. They always did these days.

"Your breasts are going to get tender, I suggest wearing sports bras, and you need to start getting into an exercise routine. Other than that, just make an appointment at the desk. I'll see you in two weeks!"

Dr. Andrews gave them both a warm smile and then left the room, allowing Veronica to get dressed again.

"I really liked that doctor, she was good." Veronica told Logan over lunch. "I think she's going to help."

"I'm glad you think so. Have you been reading your books?"

"Yes, currently it's a teeny tiny little blob."

"Well isn't that just adorable," Logan grinned at her. "We have our very own blob!"

Veronica shook her head and ate silently for a while, just watching Logan.

"Are you happy?" she asked him finally, not looking at him anymore, but staring at her plate.

"I'm really happy," he took Veronica's hand and squeezed tightly until she looked at him. "I'm the happiest I have ever been."

"Logan," Veronica started, shaking her head, but Logan interrupted her.

"Yes, this is horrible timing and it's not going to be easy, at all, but I'm still happy. You're my wife and you're carrying my blob and I love you, and that makes me happy."

He watched her think about what he was saying, digesting it and mulling it over in her mind, before giving him a small smile.

"Okay."

"You didn't ask the doctor about travelling. Does that mean you want to cancel our honeymoon?"

"No, I read that it's completely safe in your first and second trimester, as long as you haven't been experiencing specific symptoms like spotting. It's totally fine."

"Are you sure?" Logan asked, looking incredibly worried.

"I'm completely sure. Logan, I would never put this child in obvious danger. I promise."

"Okay, if you're sure."

"I am. I'm so sure that I'm going to start packing tomorrow, seeing as we're leaving in a week."

Logan smiled and took her hand. "Whatever you want, Sugarpuss."


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: So, as most of you saw I changed my mind about the New York trip, so we're back to the Hawaii trip. I just didn't think now was the right time for New York. **

**You may now proceed with your reading.**

Chapter 18

Veronica and Logan left for Hawaii the next Saturday at 3 in the morning, much to Veronica's chagrin.

"Why do we have to be here so early?" she moaned, following Logan through security and clutching a cup of coffee.

"Because you booked the flight for so early."

"Remind me not to do that next time," Veronica said putting her bag in a bin and stepping through a metal detector.

"I will make sure to do that," Logan smiled as he followed her through. "Do you want something to eat? There's a McDonald's a couple of gates over."

"I suppose I probably should eat something before we get on the plane." Veronica consented, following Logan in the direction of breakfast.

"Are you excited yet?" Veronica asked as they walked.

"I'm very excited. I get to go on my honeymoon. It's very exciting."

"Did you ever think you would be going on your honeymoon when you were 18?" Veronica wondered out loud, looking up at him.

"No. Did you?"

"No. I always thought that I would have graduated college and graduate school and had a career before I even thought about getting married."

"Do you regret it?" Logan didn't stop moving, or even look at her, but she could tell that he was asking her completely seriously.

"No. Not for a second."

"Do you think one day you will? Especially now that you're pregnant?"

"Are you going to stop me from going to college and pursuing any career I want?"

"Do you plan on becoming a skydiver or bomb technician?"

"No."

"Then no. I will stand behind you all the way." Logan promised, stopping and pulling her to the side of the walkway. "This baby and our marriage, isn't going to change anything about our futures, it just might take us a little longer to get to the end goal."

Veronica stared at him for a minute, contemplating how he could possibly know that this was what had been worrying her in the very back of her mind since she found out about being pregnant.

"You're amazing," she finally said. "Did you know that? Absolutely amazing."

"You know, I heard a rumour about that, but I don't think anybody really believed it."

"They've obviously never spent any time with you."

"Well, I'm a very selective person." Logan smirked at her, causing Veronica to shake her head, matching his smirk.

"Come on, let's get you and the blob fed. What'll it be?"

"Bacon McGriddles and Hash browns." Veronica said, her mouth already watering in anticipation.

"As you wish," Logan stepped forward to order for them, getting pancakes for himself.

"We should probably eat this at the gate, just in case they decide to board early," Veronica suggested, taking a hash brown out of the bag Logan was carrying.

"Whatever you say, Dear."

Once they had boarded the plane and listened to the flight attendant go over the safety procedures -well, Veronica had listened. Logan had just mocked her- Veronica fell asleep almost immediately after take-off, and didn't wake up until their decent to Honolulu International Airport.

"Veronica," Logan shook her shoulder lightly. "Veronica, wake up. We're here."

Veronica moaned and tried to shove him away, but Logan was persistent.

"Veronica, the plane is landing and you need to get up so we can go honeymoon."

"No thank you."

"Veronica, I can see the beach from here. We can go to the hotel, get comfortable in the room..." Logan offered, brushing her hair out of her face.

"Fine," Veronica rolled her head to look at Logan, finally opening her eyes.

"Sleep well?" Logan laughed as she wiped the sleep out of her eyes.

"Very well, thank you."

"Good, now let's go find our rental car and hotel." Logan smiled, lifting his bag out of the overhead compartment and offering Veronica her purse.

By the time they made it out of the airport it was 9 in the morning, but because of the time change it was really only 6.

"The hotel is about 20 minutes away, so I suggest that we go and drop our luggage off, find a good place to get some real breakfast, and take it from there," Logan offered as he signed the rental agreement for their yellow X-Terra.

"Are you capable of driving a different car?" Veronica asked as they loaded the luggage into the trunk.

"Maybe when we get back to Neptune we'll go car shopping and you'll be able to convince me to get a new car."

"Oh really?" Veronica raised an eyebrow and climbed into the passenger's seat.

"Well, if nothing else we'll get _you _a new car, because the Le Baron isn't exactly the safest car in the world."

"Hey! That car has served me well for 2 years, and it only rarely breaks down!" Veronica argued, fiddling with the radio.

"It broke down at least 12 times last year. You were constantly fixing it in the school parking lot."

"So?"

"You're impossible!" Logan groaned.

"Ya, but you keep me around anyways," Veronica smiled, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Ya... I'm getting you a new car."

"We can argue about it when we get home. For now, I think we should just take in how beautiful this place is and enjoy our honeymoon."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

"Aloha! Welcome to the Grand Waikikian!" The girl at the desk was tall, brunette and far too awake and perky for Veronica's liking.

"She should not be this awake," Veronica muttered under her breath, causing Logan's face to break into a grin.

"Good morning-" he looked down at her badge, "Lana. We would like to check into our room if we can."

"I'm sorry, but check-in isn't until 3. I can put your bags in storage for you and have them taken up to your room as soon as it's ready."

As she was speaking, Veronica was struck by a sudden wave of nausea and pushed Logan out of the way.

"Where's the nearest bathroom?" she demanded.

"Down the hall to the left," the girl smiled sweetly and Veronica sprinted down the hallway.

"Is she okay?"

"Morning sickness. Is there any way at all that we can get our room early? It's under Echolls."

"Ooh! I understand. My sister had horrible morning sickness. Did you fly here?"

"Ya, from Los Angeles."

"Let me see what I can do." Lana typed quickly at her computer for a few minutes before turning back to Logan.

"I do have a suite available, but it's only a one-bedroom. You had the penthouse booked, so it's a bit of a downgrade."

"That's fine. We only need one room. Is it a King?"

"Yes it is, and I can check you in immediately. I just need your credit card."

Logan took out his wallet and handed it to the girl, while checking the hallway that Veronica had run down. As soon as Lana had handed him his credit card and the room keys, and promised to get his luggage sent to the room immediately, he followed Veronica down the hallway, standing outside the bathroom door to wait for her. "Are you alright?" Logan asked, when she emerged a few minutes later.

"I'm good. I'm starving, let's get something to eat. I saw an IHOP down the street." Veronica said, grabbing her bag from Logan and walking towards the doors and back to the car. Logan shook his head and chased after her. If Veronica was confusing before she was pregnant, now she was completely mind boggling.

"Table for two?"

The hostess here was far too perky for Veronica as well, and her face told everybody around them.

"Yes." She smiled back as widely as the hostess and then turned to Logan, rolling her eyes.

Veronica ordered the Berries and Cream Belgian Waffle and Logan ordered Bananas Foster Brioche French Toast.

"So what do you want to do today?" Logan asked as they ate.

"I thought we could just lay by the pool, maybe go for a walk on the beach. I'm only going to be able to pull off a bikini for so long before I start to show."

"You're going to look amazing in a bikini no matter what size you are," Logan promised, stealing a berry off her plate.

"Well ain't you sweet," Veronica cooed in a southern belle accent.

"I do try."

"Well it's easy now. The difficulty will be when I'm a building and can't see my feet."

Logan smiled at her and shook his head, taking her hand across the table.

"What's it going to take to convince you that I'm always going to think you're beautiful?" he asked.

Veronica thought carefully, chewing her food slowly and sipping her coffee before answering, "Ask me in six months."

Logan and Veronica finished their breakfast and headed back to the hotel to change and head down to the pool.

"Wow," Logan's jaw dropped as Veronica walked into the room in her Red and Black striped bikini and a long, sheer cover-up hanging from her hips.

"What?" Veronica asked, looking down at her outfit.

"Nothing. You look fantastic!"

Veronica gave a small smile and looked at the ground, then looked up again and smirked.

"I'll raise you to the pool!" And she grabbed her bag and ran out the door, leaving Logan staring after her in awe.

Not for long, however. He quickly recovered himself and jumped off the bed, chasing after her. His legs being so much longer than hers, Logan caught up incredibly quickly, grabbing Veronica around the waist and spinning her around behind him, setting her on her feet and taking off in front of her.

"CHEATER!" Veronica screamed after him, trying to catch up.

Unfortunately, she was unable to catch up, and when she got to the pool Logan was already sitting in a chair waiting for her.

"Nice of you to join me," he smirked. Veronica only glared at him, breathing a little heavier than usual.

"Can't you have mercy on your pregnant wife?" Veronica demanded, sitting down beside him.

"If I thought she would accept mercy, but if you're forgetting, I married Veronica Mars. I didn't think mercy was in your vocabulary." He stood up and stepped towards her.

"It's not," Veronica smiled wickedly and stepped forward, putting her hands on Logan's chest. He grinned back at her, leaning down to kiss her, and then she shoved him and he flew backwards into the pool with a large splash. He came up coughing and sputtering, glaring at Veronica.

"Cheaters never prosper," Veronica giggled, crouching down at the edge of the pool.

"Payback's a bitch." Logan countered, grabbing her arm and pulling her into the pool beside him.

"Logan!" she screamed, and then she hit the water.

_I'm going to kill him!_ Veronica thought as she kicked her way to the surface.

"I hate you." Veronica coughed, swimming to the edge of the pool and dragging herself onto the deck.

"Oh, come on Bobcat!" Logan grinned, swimming up behind her and giving her a push up. "It's all in good fun!"

"I'm not talking to you." Veronica told him, putting her nose in the air dramatically and grabbing a towel off of a nearby cart.

"Bobcat!" Logan called after her, causing people to start looking at him strangely.

"Shut up, Logan!" Veronica called, sitting down in a pool chaise and grabbing her book out of her bag.

"You're no fun!" Logan told her, climbing out of the pool and dropping into a chaise beside her.

"That's what my profile says," Veronica countered.

"I thought you took that down."

"Well, I decided to keep my options open, just in case this whole honeymoon thing didn't work out."

"You two are just so sweet!" A slightly gravelly voice came from the seats beside them, and Veronica and Logan looked up to see a little old lady and her husband sitting down.

"Thank you," Logan said, smiling awkwardly.

"Don't mind her," the husband told Logan. "She can't keep her nose out of people's business. You'd think I'd have her under control after 40 years." His wife swatted him in the arm, causing him to let out a deep, hearty laugh that brought a smile to Veronica's face.

"So you're telling me that I have no hope of taming this one?" Logan asked in a pretend whisper, gesturing to Veronica.

"Logan, now is the time to remember that I can do far worse than wack you," Veronica smiled, putting her arms around his neck in what seemed to be a loving action.

"Have I told you how much I loved you in the last hour?" Logan asked, smiling up at her.

"No, you just shoved me in the pool."

"That wasn't very smart of me."

"No, it really wasn't."

"I love you, Bobcat!"

"I would hope so."

"I like her!" the older woman told her husband, before holding her hand out to Veronica.

"Mary Wells. And this is my husband, Henry"

"Veronica Ma-" Veronica stopped herself, smiling slightly. "Echolls. Veronica Echolls. And this is my husband Logan."

"Honeymoon?" Mary asked.

Veronica nodded, giving Logan a small smile.

"We're here on our 40th anniversary. We've been coming to this island every 5 years since our honeymoon."

"That's amazing!" Veronica stared at her in shock. It was mind boggling to her that a marriage could last 40 years, though she hoped that hers and Logan's would.

"When did the two of you get married?" Henry asked, as Mary stared at Logan.

"In June. June 30th to be exact." Veronica told him, fiddling with her wedding ring.

"You're Logan Echolls!" Mary said, pointing at Logan finally. "You're Aaron Echolls' son!"

"Yep, that would be me." Logan said, smiling awkwardly.

"You poor dear." Mary leaned forward and took Logan's hand. "I hope that our grandson is as brave and loving as you seem to be."

Logan stared at her, shocked. Nobody had ever seen him that way except Veronica.

"Have a fantastic honeymoon!" Mary offered, getting up and walking to the pool.

"There's a water slide over there," Veronica told Logan, pointing at the rocks beside the pool.

"Yes there is," Logan agreed, gathering his wits again.

"I want to ride the water slide"

"That's quite possibly the strangest sentence I have ever heard come out of your mouth."

"Come on!" Veronica grabbed Logan's hand and pulled him up, dragging him in the direction of the water slide

"You're amazing." Logan laughed, following behind her.

They spent almost the entire day at the pool, until Veronica started falling asleep in her pool chair around 3, when Logan made her go back up to the room with him and sleep.

"I don't think people are supposed to sleep on their honeymoons," Veronica argued as she changed into a tank top and some pyjama shorts.

"The pregnant ones are. I'm beat too," Logan promised as he slipped on a pair of boxers and crawled into bed beside.

"You're a terrible liar," Veronica scolded, curling into his side and closing her eyes.

"When you wake up we'll go get dinner."

"Mhm hmm." Veronica mumbled, already half asleep.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

When Veronica awoke a few hours later Logan was already dressed in shorts and a golf shirt, sitting on the couch watching TV.

"Sleep well?" he asked, turning off the soccer game he had been watching and looking over at her.

"Fine. I'm starving!" Veronica stretched and got out of bed, throwing open her suitcase and grabbing a pair of jeans and a blouse. "Just let me wash my face and then we can get dinner."

Logan nodded and slipped on his shoes, waiting at the door.

"Okay, let's go!" Veronica did up her wedges and grabbed her purse in one fluid motion, shoving Logan out the door.

"Where do you want to go?" Logan asked, taking her hand as they walked towards the elevator.

"Wherever. I heard that the restaurant in the hotel is good. Tropics, I think it's called."

"Sounds good to me."

Their dinner was amazing- ribs and burgers, but the dessert was the best part. 8 Layer Chocolate Cake.

"This is the most amazing thing I have ever eaten!" Veronica moaned as she finished the last bite of cake.

"It's definitely good," Logan conceded.

"Where have you tasted anything better than this?" Veronica demanded, wiping the chocolate left on the plate with her finger and putting it in her mouth, sucking it off in a way that made Logan's head go foggy. He quirked an eyebrow and looked Veronica up and down suggestively, causing her to blush.

"Logan!" she gasped, looking down at her plate, then back at him with hooded eyes.

"Cheque!" Logan called enthusiastically to the waitress, causing Veronica to giggle. It reminded him of the Veronica that he had grown up with. The Veronica he knew before Lily died.

When the cheque came, Logan threw a few bills on the table, grabbed Veronica's hand and made a quick exit, heading back across the courtyard to the hotel. When the elevator came, Logan pulled Veronica inside and quickly hit the button to close the doors before pushing her against the wall and pressing his mouth to hers.

"Did I tell you how beautiful you are today?" Logan asked between kisses, working his way down her neck.

"Once or twice," Veronica panted, giving him a small smile.

The elevator doors opened, and Logan pulled Veronica onto their floor, not removing his lips from hers as they fumbled their way down the corridor, before slamming into their door. As Veronica fumbled for the key card, Logan attacked her throat and shoulder, making her head go fuzzy. She finally found the card and unlocked the door, throwing it open and stumbling inside.

"I love you," she panted. And then the door slammed.

When Veronica woke the next morning, she was faced with an overwhelming feeling of bliss. This feeling was almost instantly replaced by nausea and she bolted out of bed and into the bathroom. The sudden movement of the bed caused Logan to wake, but when he heard the sound of the bathroom door slamming shut, he rolled over and grabbed his cellphone to check the time. 7:00. This was prime surfing time usually, but today Veronica had promised him an entire day of surfing at Al Moana Beach. As soon as she was finished being sick, of course.

"Veronica?!" he called, getting up and heading for the bathroom. "Are you alright?"

"Fine. Can you go get us some coffee?"

He could tell by her tone that she was far from fine, but he could also tell that she wasn't in the mood for being comforted this morning, and would rather he leave the room for a few minutes.

"Okay. I'll be back in a few minutes." Logan threw a shirt and some shorts on and headed down to the continental breakfast provided in the lobby.

"Well, you're up early!" a kindly voice came from behind him as Logan was pouring coffee.

"Morning, Henry." Logan nodded.

"When _I_ was on my honeymoon we slept until noon."

"Veronica's morning sickness tends to inhibit sleeping in," Logan told him, putting a couple pastries on a plate, along with the cups of coffee.

"Aahh," Henry sighed and patted Logan on the shoulder. "I know that feeling well. Tell her that she should try sucking on Jolly Rancher candies. That's all my wife could eat for the first 5 months of her pregnancy, but apparently they worked wonders."

"Thanks!" Logan said in surprise, shaking Henry's hand.

"You'll need all the help you can get." Henry laughed, turning away to get coffee for himself.

When Logan got back to the room, Veronica was sitting on the couch sipping from a water bottle and watching the news.

"How are you feeling?" Logan asked, offering her a cup of coffee.

"Much better. Are you ready to go surfing?"

"We can take our time getting ready. We've got all day for surfing. Do you want to order some breakfast from room service?"

"Yes! I want an omelette with cheese, tomatoes, red peppers, spinach and pineapple with a side of bacon and hashbrowns. And a chocolate milkshake."

"I didn't think you were supposed to get cravings for another week or two."

"I'm advanced." Veronica shrugged and pecked him on the lips before moving to her suitcase. Logan laughed and picked up the phone, calling in her order. It took a little convincing to get her that milkshake, but a member of the kitchen staff finally agreed.

"Food will be here in a few minutes." Logan said, turning back to Veronica. "What are you doing?"

She was throwing clothes all over the place, rummaging through her suitcase.

"I can't find my other bikini."

"It's on the bed." Logan said, reaching over and throwing it at her.

"How did I miss that?"

"You're getting sloppy?" Logan offered.

"I don't get sloppy." Veronica informed him, throwing a pair of shorts and a tank top on top of the bikini.

"Do you want me to teach you how to surf today?" Logan offered, sipping his coffee.

"Maybe. I'll see how the waves are." Veronica answered vaguely. Logan had been trying to teach her how to surf since they were kids, but she had always had a good excuse.

"I promise that it will be fun."

"You say that everytime you try to convince me to learn how to surf."

"And I'm right every time. You just never take me up on my offers."

"Well I guess we'll see what happens today." Veronica was trying not to give him an absolute no, but she was very sure that it was going to be an absolute no. Today was going to be a day of suntanning and reading.

"FOOD!" Veronica cried when there was a knock at the door, scaring Logan half to death. Veronica threw open the door and allowed the tray to be wheeled in.

"Is there anything else I can get you, Miss?" the server asked after removing the lids from the trays.

"No, this is great. Thanks."

Logan got up and handed the boy a few bills while Veronica opened a straw for her milkshake.

"This is the most amazing milkshake I have ever had. Try some!" She offered the glass to Logan, but he shook his head.

"That's a little too sweet for me this early in the morning, but I promise to have one before we leave."

Veronica shrugged and continued sipping the drink before grabbing a piece of bacon off her plate and dipping it into the glass.

"Okay, that's just gross." Logan commented, smothering his pancakes with butter.

"It's delicious. And let's be honest, this is quite possibly the sanest craving I will have. For all we know I'll be craving liver next week."

"Have you ever had liver?"

"No."

"I don't think you can crave things you've never tried."

"Whatever, you know what I mean." Veronica waved him off and went back to her chocolate covered bacon."

Once they were finished breakfast, Veronica packed her beach bag with books, towels and water bottles and changed into her bikini, throwing shorts and a tank top over top.

"Ready?" Logan asked, grabbing a rash guard out of his suitcase and tossing it into her bag.

"Absolutely. Did you put suntan lotion on?"

"Yes, dear."

"Hey! I don't need you getting a sunburn this week. That would seriously put a damper no things."

Logan laughed and grabbed her waist, pulling her against him for a kiss.

"That would be a problem, wouldn't it. Seeing as you seem to be in a very... loving mood these days." He waggled his eyebrows at her, leaning down to kiss her again.

"You're ridiculous," Veronica told him, slipping out from his grip.

"Yup!" he smiled and followed her out the door.

"So where is this beach?" Veronica asked as they pulled out of the parking lot.

"Maybe 10 minutes from here, according to the concierge."

"Is there a place to rent boards?"

"Yep. Do you want me to rent you one?" Logan asked, glancing at her.

"Maybe after lunch."

"Uh huh," Logan nodded, rolling his eyes.

Once they were at the beach, and Logan had rented his surf board, Veronica plopped herself on a towel, opened her umbrella and pulled out a book.

"Are you even going to glance up every once in a while and make sure I haven't been eaten by a shark?" Logan asked as he pulled his rash guard on.

"I'm sure people's screams of terror would let me know if something like that happened." She saw the look on his face and ammended her view. "But I promise to look up every once in a while to see if you've caught a wave."

"Who could ask for a more loving wife than you?" Logan smiled, leaning down to kiss her. "What are you reading anyways?"

"One of the books from my criminology reading list."

"Of course. School isn't for two more weeks."

"I like to be prepared." Veronica countered, taking a highliter out of her purse.

"That you do. I'll see you in a bit!" And he ran into the ocean.

Veronica spent the morning studying _The Student Handbook of Criminal Justice and Criminology, _only looking up every once in a while to see Logan riding a wave. When he finally came in around 1, she was starving but very prepared for her first criminology class.

"How are the waves?" Veronica asked, packing up her book and handing Logan a towel.

"Fantastic. But I'm starving now. You ready for lunch?"

"Absolutely. What are we having?"

"A guy out there told me about a food truck that parks just over here, says that they have amazing food."

"You mean that food truck?" Veronica asked, pointing to a large yellow trailer.

"That would be the one." Logan took her hand and led her to the order window.

"Aloha! What can I get you bro?" A large man with a kerchief around his head and a green t-shirt stood with a pad and pen, poised for writing.

"I'll have the Krunchy Double Fried Potatoes," Veronica said, looking over the menu on the side of the trailer.

"You want the works?"

"Please."

"And you?" he turned to Logan.

"I'll have the Kickin' Chicken Bowl." Logan handed the guy a $20 bill.

"Mahalo. It'll just be a couple minutes. Take a seat, we'll bring it out!" The guy handed Logan his change and pointed to a group of picnic tables with umbrellas.

"Mahalo!" Logan smiled and led Veronica to a table.

"So?" Logan asked as they walked back to the beach after lunch.

"So, what?"

"Are you going to surf?"

"I was going to," Veronica started, "but then I checked the internet and apparently it's not the world's safest pregnancy sport unless you've been doing it for years. So you're out of luck. Sorry."

"Be honest, you're happy to have a new excuse."

"I really was going to try!" Veronica insisted.

"_Sure_. Whatever you say."

"I'm serious, Logan!"

"Uh huh." Logan kissed her forehead and ran back to the water, leaving Veronica's arguments hanging in the air, unheard.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Veronica and Logan ordered room service for dinner that night, and Veronica barely made it through her plate of mashed potatoes and strawberries before passing out on the couch with her head in Logan's lap. When she woke up the next morning however, she was in bed.

"Sleep well?" Logan asked from the couch. He was sitting eating a pop tart and drinking a cup of coffee, watching a surfing competition on TV.

"Amazing!" Veronica stretched and sat up.

"I bet. You were dead to the world when I put you to bed."

"Thanks for that. The couch probably isn't as comfortable after 12 hours."

"You wouldn't think so." Logan agreed, handing her a cup of coffee as she sat down beside him.

"Thanks. Where'd you get the pop tarts?" Veronica asked, taking one from the silver package Logan was holding.

"The vending machine down the hall. I also grabbed you a bag of Jolly Ranchers, Henry says that they help with morning sickness."

"Because Henry is such an expert?" Veronica asked, raising an eyebrow.

"His wife used them when she was pregnant."

"Okay, thanks."

"So, what do we have planned today?"

"Honolulu Zoo."

"Oh, that's right! Today is our dinner safari. Are you excited?"

"Yes! I get to see the ponies!" Veronica squealed, hopping in her seat.

"You're ridiculous!" Logan laughed, holding up his coffee so it wouldn't spill. "Do you want to take a pony ride while we're there?"

"YES!"

"You're amazing, you know that?"

"Ya," Veronica grinned, kissing Logan as she got up and slipped into her flip flops.

"And so modest. Where are you going?"

"To get some more coffee, and possibly a donut."

"I can get that." Logan told her, jumping off the couch.

"Logan, I'm perfectly capable of riding an elevator down a few floors. In fact, I would be capable of taking the stairs. And I will continue doing this until I can no longer get up without help."

"Alright, but I'm coming with you."

"Logan!"

"What? Am I not allowed to enjoy your company?"

Veronica shook her head, but held the door open for him. "You're ridiculous."

"Ya," Logan smiled and kissed her, grabbing her hand and pulling her into the hallway.

"We're not going to the zoo until later this afternoon. What are you planning on doing until then?" Logan asked as they waited for the elevator.

"I'm going to the gym."

"The gym?" Logan asked, raising an eyebrow. "Since when do you go to the gym?"

"Well, I've always been in realy good shape, but I'm figuring that I'm not going to be chasing down many bad guys or jumping any fences in the next few months, and all the baby websites say that I need to develop a good exercise routine during my pregnancy. So I'm going to the gym." Veronica explained.

Logan stared at her quizically for a few minutes, then shook his head.

"Nope. It still seems wrong."

"Would you like to join me?" Veronica asked.

"Well I definitely need proof that you're actually going to the gym, not just sitting drinking cucumber water."

"Whatever," Veronica waved him off and stepped out of the elevator, heading for the breakfast buffet in the lobby.

Once they had finished breakfast, Veronica changed into a pair of shorts and a loose tank top, grabbed a water bottle and headed for the gym, Logan following behind her.

"What do you plan on doing for your work-out?" Logan asked, as they rode the elevator down.

"The pregnancy website that I'm using said that walking and spinning are good, and swimming, but I think I'm just going to do some spinning, since we swam the last two days."

Logan nodded along as she spoke.

"The book that you handed to me said that dancing is good exercise."

"Ya, but I don't dance."

"Really?"

"Well, not often. I dance around the house. Does that count?"

"Definitely." Logan laughed, putting an arm around her shoulder.

Veronica worked out for 30 minutes before Logan came over and suggested she stop.

"I think you're overworking yourself a little. Maybe you should take a break."

"How long has it been?" Veronica asked, breathing heavily and drinking her water.

"Half an hour. How long are you supposed to exercise for?"

"Half an hour. I have great timing don't I?"

"Definitely. Are you going to get off that thing now?"

"Yes. Will you give me more than five seconds?"

"No."

Veronica reached out to smack Logan, but he took a step back and she missed. Then she lost her balance and lunged forward.

"Woah!" Logan caught her just as she was about to faceplant. "See? Violence is not the answer."

"Whatever." Veronica regained her balance and stepped away from him.

"Thank you, Logan. That was so nice of you to stop me from falling on my face." He spoke in the same high-pitched voice that he used when mocking Lamb. Veronica glared at him, but stood on her tiptoes and pecked him on the lip. "I'm going to go take a shower."

"Is that an invitation?" Logan asked as she walked away.

"Nope!" Veronica called back, giving him a cheeky grin before walking out the door.

Logan worked out for another half hour after she left, and then went up to the room to shower.

"You want to get some lunch?" Logan asked as he rubbed his hair dry with a towel.

"Sure, I'm starving." Veronica jumped off the couch and grabbed her bag and shoes.

"There's a Cheesecake Factory on the way to the zoo," Logan offered.

"Mmmm, cheesecake!"

"I'll take that as a yes," Logan laughed, holding the door open for her.

"Absolutely a yes!"

Veronica ordered Pasta and Logan a spicy Chicken and Shrimp bowl, both paired with Chocolate milkshakes and Tiramisu Cheesecake for dessert.

"I love this restaurant!" Veronica cooed over the cheesecake. "This is a pregnancy restaurant. They just understand so much more than other restaurants do."

"So you're saying that we're going to be eating at The Cheesecake Factory a lot in the coming months?" Logan laughed.

"That is exactly what I'm saying. Is there one in Neptune?"

"If not in Neptune, then somewhere close to Neptune. I'm sure we can figure out something." He promised.

"We should get going," Veronica said looking at her watch. "If we go now we'll be able to see most of the zoo before it closes."

"Aren't we going to be seeing the zoo after it closes?"

"Yes, but only parts of it. And I want my pony ride!"

"Whatever you want, Bobcat."


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: Okay, so just wanted to warn the people who read this story all the time that I'm getting a little bored of writing Honeymoon stuff, so it's probably going to feel a little fast paced and rushed, and I'm sorry, but I'm running out of ideas. Also, if anyone lives in Hawaii or knows a lot about Hawaii and is reading this, I'm sorry if I'm all over the place with stuff. I tried to research as best I could, but there's only so much you can look into without actually being there. Okay, you can now continue reading the story. Hope you like it!

Chapter 22

The zoo was amazing. Beautiful plants and flowers everywhere, and the animals were amazing. Veronica got her pony ride, although the man in charge of the ride seemed a little confused that she was 18 years old and still wanted a pony ride. Logan finally handed the guy a 5 dollar bill to make him stop asking questions. When they had finished the pony ride, it was time to gather for the dinner safari. They rode through the zoo seeing the animals being fed their dinner, many of them suddenly more active than when Veronica and Logan had seen them just an hour before. At the end of the tour, they were taken to a delicious buffet, although Veronica could only eat a third of the food. Most of it was fish, and she didn't want to test things without talking to her doctor. She had read too much about fish being bad for you when you're pregnant. After that, there was a night tour. After dark, all the nocturnal animals came out, and Veronica got every penny worth of this trip just seeing the Chinchillas running around in their little enclosure. After the nocturnal tour, came a bonfire and s'mores, although Veronica wasn't really feeling the s'mores thing. They left a little earlier than the rest of the group, and Veronica fell asleep in the car.

The next day was their trip to Waikiki Aquarium to meet the Monk Seals. Although the first half of the day was spent sitting on the floor in the bathroom. Veronica's morning sickness was worse than it had been for her entire pregnancy.

"Do you think you ate something?" Logan asked as she slumped against him, swigging mouthwash.

"I don't know. I didn't eat anything weird. I think it's just this whole pregnancy thing kicking up to the next level."

"Do you want to just skip our trick to the aquarium?" Logan offered.

"No, I want to see the seals!"

"We can come back and see the seals another time."

"Logan, I'll be fine. Seriously. I'm feeling better already. In a couple hours I'll be back to my usual Veronica."

Logan stared at her for a few seconds before finally nodding.

"As long as you're sure. Do you need anything?"

"I think I'm just gonna lay down." Veronica said. "Can you help me up?"

Logan got up, pulling Veronica with him and helped her back to bed.

"I'm gonna go get some breakfast. Are you sure you don't want some tea or something?"

"No, I think I'm just gonna sleep a little more. Just make sure I'm up before 12 so we can go to the aquarium."

"Okay." Logan kissed her forehead and pulled the comforter over her.

When Veronica got up a few hours later, they grabbed lunch at a McDonalds and drove to the aquarium, getting there around 1. The seals weren't until 3, so they got to wander around for a while and see the different exhibits. The best one was the Hunters of the Reef exhibit. It was the one with sharks and groupers, and Veronica had grabbed Logan's hand in terror as one of the Groupers swam straight at her.

"_That_ is why I never went surfing," she told him. Her eyes still full of fear.

"I have been surfing for 18 years, and I have never seen a shark or grouper or any other animals that might scare you other than a jelly fish." Logan told her, pulling her along the exhibit.

"But they exist, and that's all that matters." Veronica insisted.

When they had finished walking through the aquarium, they went to an education room, and listened to a marine biologist talk about Monk Seals and what they eat for a while, and then they went to the actual exhibit and saw the seals.

"They're so cute!" Veronica cooed.

"Are you feeling alright?" Logan asked, looking her up and down. "Because the Veronica I know doesn't call things cute."

"I'm pregnant. Sue me. I think things are cute sometimes."

"See, that sounds like normal Veronica."

"Look, they're feeding them!"

"So I made dinner reservations for tonight," Logan told her as they got out of their car back at the hotel.

"Really? Where?" Veronica asked, getting excited.

"It's a surprise. But you should probably wear that nice dress that you packed. The one you wore to graduation."

"So it's a fancy restaurant?" Veronica pried.

"Or I just really like that dress on you. I'll leave you in suspense."

"It's a fancy restaurant," she said as she walked past him into their hotel room, grabbing her make-up bag and dress and locking herself in the bathroom.

The restaurant was, in fact, fancy. Incredibly fancy. So fancy that neither one of them could read the entire menu because it was written in French.

"What do you want?" Logan asked, staring blankly at the menu.

"I have no idea." Veronica stared at the menu with even less of a clue. "You're the one who ate at these restaurants all the time as a kid. The Mars family was strictly English menus, maybe Spanish every once in a while, but always with English subtitles."

Logan laughed, trying to concentrate on the menu, but having issues due to how amazing Veronica looked.

"Would you like to choose a wine?" asked their waiter, handing Logan a list.

"No, thanks. We're not drinking tonight."

"Very well, sir. Would you like to start with the escargot?"

"Umm, I think we need another minute." Veronica smiled sweetly, though her tone was biting.

"Yes, Miss." The waiter smiled and backed away, moving on to the next table.

"This restaurant is really fancy," Veronica commented. She didn't want to tell Logan how out of place she was feeling. She wanted this to be a nice dinner. The kind of fancy dinner that married couples had on their honeymoon.

"It's not really us, is it?" Logan asked her, looking around, and then seeing the relief wash over Veronica's face.

"Not really." Veronica agreed.

"Come on." Logan got up and grabbed her hand, pulling her to her feet.

"Logan, where are we going?" Veronica asked, grabbing her bag from the floor and jogging a few steps to keep up with him.

"Somewhere more us." Logan smiled back at her, as they came to a stop outside and he handed their ticket to the valet.

"You're pretty great, you know that?" Veronica asked, reaching up to kiss him.

"You may have mentioned something about that," he smiled, kissing her back.

They ended up at Duke's, a steakhouse that was just as nice as La Mer, but nowhere near as overly fancy. The menu was in English, and they served french fries. Logan and Veronica both got steak, and Logan added a lobster tail to his meal. It was delicious, and when they left, Veronica was incredibly happy.

"That bread pudding was amazing!" Veronica cried as they got out of the elevator.

"Are you still going on about that?" Logan laughed.

"Yes, because it's amazing! I have never had anything that amazing in my entire life!"

"Oh really?" Logan asked, raising an eyebrow. "Maybe we should do something about that." He smiled down at her as the door opened, and captured his lips with hers.

"Maybe," Veronica agreed, looking up at him through lidded eyes.

Wednesday was the day they had set aside for shopping at the Royal Hawaiian Center. Logan spent a good twenty minutes in the Ferrari store, although Veronica was right behind him looking through the clothes and watches, keeping her eye out for anything she might get Logan for his birthday. After Ferrari, Logan insisted that they should shop for baby things.

"Don't you think it's a little early?" Veronica asked as they walked through Kate Spade.

"Never too early. Look, they have diaper bags!"

Veronica looked through the bags, but stopped dead when she saw the price tags.

"These bags are $300 Logan!"

"So?"

"Logan that's ridiculous!"

"Veronica, we're rich. We can afford it. It's okay to splurge every once in a while if you find something you like."

He had already noticed how she was lingering on a black and white striped bag. If she didn't buy it now, then he would sneak back and get it.

"Do you like this one?" he asked, picking it up and looking it over.

"It's okay." She shrugged, taking it from him and putting it down, but he could tell by her face that she was lying.

"Veronica, I know you want it. If you don't get it now, it's going to mysteriously appear one day."

"Logan!" Veronica complained, walking away.

"Veronica!" Logan copied her, grabbing the bag and walking to the cash. "I'll take this one."

"Of course sir," the cashier smiled at him, but quickly looked away when she saw Veronica's glare.

"I can't believe you bought this bag!" Veronica cried as they left. "It was way too much!"

"Veronica, it's okay to let me spoil you every once in a while."

"This entire trip was you spoiling me!"

"Veronica," Logan stopped and turned to her, kissing her forehead. "Just say thanks you."

She continued to glare at him for a few seconds, and then looked down at her shoes.

"Thank you," she grumbled.

"How hard was that?" Logan asked.

"A lot harder than it should have been." Veronica told him, taking the bag and walking towards the next store. Logan just followed her, laughing quietly.

"You just walked past Jimmy Choo, are you sure you're a girl?" Logan asked as he caught up to her.

"Is that really a question? Because you have total evidence to support that fact." Veronica said, glaring at him.

"Ya, that's true. That was probably a stupid question."

"Probably?" Veronica raised an eyebrow at him.

"Okay, it was. But don't you want to go to Jimmy Choo?"

"No, I don't need shoes and I don't like shopping for things I don't need."

"Okay," Logan put his hands up in surrender and followed her to the next store. As soon as he saw the store, however, he was very happy that they had skipped Jimmy Choo.

"Why are we here?" Logan asked as he followed her into Princesse Tam-Tam, one of the best lingerie stores around.

"I need new bras," Veronica smiled.

"Okay."

Veronica went around the store, grabbing bras and flicking through racks. Once she had grabbed all the bras she wanted, she moved on to the underwear section.

"You know, all these... undergarments, seem very modest." Logan commented, looking through the rack beside Veronica.

"Ya, that's why I'm here and not at Victoria's Secret or Pink."

"Well where's the fun in that?"

"I'm not here for fun. I actually need bras, I'm not going to fit any of mine in like a month."

"I think I skipped that part of the book."

"Really?" Veronica asked casually, smiling to herself before walking into the change area. When she returned a few minutes later, she went straight to the cash register, taking out her credit card before Logan could get there.

"I would have got those," he told her, taking the bags out of her hand.

"You can pick up the Victoria's Secret bills. Deal?" Veronica offered.

"Works for me. Is there a Victoria's Secret here?"

"No. Maybe we should wait a couple weeks until I fit my new bras."

"There's absolutely no fun in that plan."

"That's okay. Hey look! There's a Zumiez. I love Zumiez." And with that she was gone, making a dash for the skate shop.

"You should get some bigger clothes, so that when you start to show you have stuff that fits, since I feel like you're not going to be pixie sized when you're pregnant."

"Are you calling me fat?" Veronica quirked an eyebrow.

"Absolutely not."

"Okay." Veronica turned and started searching through the racks, grabbing some pants and sweatshirts as she went, including a hoodie with "Unicorn Wanted" printed on it, and a tank top that said "Supreme Bitch".

"That seems appropriate," Logan smiled when he saw the shirt.

"I thought so. It's a shame I won't be able to wear it to Neptune High."

Logan smiled and went to look at the snowboards hanging on the wall, telling Veronica to just let him know when she's ready. Veronica picked up a large pile of sweaters, shirts and joggers, all of which she figured she would be able to wear for at least a few months, and then after her pregnancy.

"Ready?" Logan asked as she came up behind him.

"Yep. You getting anything?"

"New snowboarding jacket," he held up the coat for her to see.

"You realize that you only go snowboarding, like every two years, right?"

"I still need a coat." He argued, throwing it onto the counter with all Veronica's purchases.

A few more stores, and they were ready for lunch, which they chose to get at Wolfgang's a steakhouse in the mall complex. Veronica was having another day of cravings, and threw their waitress for a curve ball by ordering a plate of mashed potatoes with extra butter, sauteed mushrooms and broccoli. Logan, however, made a far more reasonable lunch decision, ordering the catch of the day.

"That's such a boring order," Veronica informed him, sipping her chocolate milk.

"Ya, well one of us has to be normal."

"I don't remember that being a rule."

"I think it was somewhere in the deep recesses of the marriage contract: 'one partner must keep partial sanity intact at all times, in order to counteract for the crazy pregnant half.'" Logan's laugh turned to a grimace as Veronica kicked him under the table.

"We are both equally crazy." Veronica told him matter of factly.

"Whatever you say, Bobcat." Logan rubbed his shin, which was now throbbing painfully.

They spent the rest of the day around the hotel, sitting at the pool, going to the gym, ordering room service for dinner.

"So?" Logan asked as he watched Veronica packing their suitcases the next morning. "Did you like your honeymoon?"

"It was amazing," Veronica promised sitting down and putting her head on his chest. "I never want it to end."

"Well, we have a few hours before we need to be at the airport. I'm sure we could make it last a little longer. What do you want to do?"

"I have a pretty good idea," Veronica smiled sweetly up at him, and threw her leg over his, straddling him. "Don't know if it'll last a few hours though."

"I'm sure we can figure something out," Logan promised.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

When Logan and Veronica got back, they had a week to finish getting ready for school, reading all the required materials and just trying to get accustomed to their everyday lives. Veronica was trying to get Mars Investigations open again, at least part time. Taking on easy cases that would pay the bills, but not put her or the baby in danger.

"Take a break," Logan begged, pulling a file from her hands.

"I don't need a break. I need to read this case file and then finish the last chapter of Criminology by Tim Newburn."

"Breaks are healthy," Logan told her. "And you seem to be very into your health right now."

Veronica raised an eyebrow at him, and he dropped to his knees, placing his head on her lap.

"Just one movie, maybe two. It's Clint Eastwood! He's a legend. You need him in your life!" He gave her his best puppy dog face and she finally caved, heaving a sigh and dropping her head.

"One movie!" she told him. "Then I have to study."

"School hasn't even started yet. You don't need to study."

"We've already had this discussion. Numerous times. Studying is important. You should try it this time around."

"As soon as the movie is over," Logan promised.

"Lies just don't look good on you, Sweetie." Veronica told him, pecking him on the lips.

"It's a good thing everything else does."

Six hours and 4 movies later Veronica was passed out with her head in Logan's lap, Chinese food containers spread across the coffee table.

"Those movies were really good," Veronica mumbled as Logan carefully tried to pick her up off the couch.

"I told you. Now go back to sleep."

"I'm not tired," she mumbled, snuggling into his shoulder and rubbing her eyes.

"Lies look amazing on you, but I'm not buying it. Go to sleep."

"Okay." Veronica yawned and closed her eyes again.

The next morning, the day before school, Logan insisted that they go car shopping.

"You need a new one. The Le Baron is falling apart." Logan insisted. "I'll look for one soon too, once things are more settled."

"But I don't _want_ to go car shopping. I hate car shopping." Veronica complained.

"You've never been car shopping."

"How do you think I got the Le Baron?"

"Your dad brought it home and handed you the bills."

"No, that's how _you_ got your car. I had to wander around the lot with my dad for five hours. It was the farthest thing from fun."

"I promise that this will go a lot quicker. I already have an idea of what you should look at, based on safety and gas mileage and all sorts of other things that you probably don't care about."

"So I just have to pick which one's the prettiest?"

"Yep."

"This is such a good idea!" Veronica crowed, jumping out of the car and taking Logan's hand.

"Alright, so your choices are the Lexus RX 400H Hybrid, a Toyota Prius, a Ford Escape or a Saturn VUE."

"A Saturn?"

"For a Mars," Logan smiled, pulling her in the direction of a silver, slightly square car. "Hop inside and see what you think."

"Well crap, I kind of do have to hop." Veronica noticed, lifting herself into the car.

"Is that a problem?" Logan asked, leaning against the door.

"Probably not. Hey, I can see over the steering wheel!"

"Which is why I recommended SUVs." Logan told her as she hopped back down. "Do you want to find a sales person and take it for a spin?"

"It's probably a good idea."

Veronica test drove the Saturn and the Ford, but finally decided that the Saturn was more comfortable.

"Would you like to take it today?" the sales person asked as they sat in his office.

"Yes please." Veronica smiled, getting giddy at the idea of a brand new car.

"Alright, if you can just sign here, I'll get you your keys."

Veronica took the pen and scribbled her name on the forms then turned to Logan, giggling and clapping her hands.

"Are you happy?" Logan asked, chuckling at her.

"Just a little bit!" Her voice hit a higher pitch than usual, and when the salesman came back, she practically leaped from her seat.

"There you go Mrs. Echolls. Enjoy your new car."

"Thanks." She shook the guy's hand and was out the door, booking it for her new car.

"So I guess I'll just meet up with you at home?" Logan called after her.

"Bring food with you!" Veronica called back, waving her keys in the air.


	24. Chapter 24

A/N: All chapters after and including this one are based off of Season 3, and therefor contain multiple scenes and story lines from the show, slightly changed from how it originally was. However, it is also incredibly accurate to the show, as I am using transcripts. Therefore, I do not own anything. All rights belong to the writers and producer and everybody else involved in the original Veronica Mars TV series.

Chapter 24

Veronica and Logan woke early the next morning, ready for their first day of college.

"So what do you say? New school, fresh start. Why don't you avoid pissing anybody off today? Go for a new record." Logan offered as they drove to campus.

"I'll try, but we both know how these things usually go," Veronica smiled and kissed him before jumping out of the car. "I have Intro to Criminology."

"I'll meet you outside the building after your class." Logan called as she ran off.

Her first class was ridiculously easy. Google a murder mystery, make half a class and a TA hate her. Nothing new there, just Veronica being Veronica. Once that was over, she joined Logan on a park bench out front.

"You a bounty hunter boy?" she asked in her best Clint Eastwood impersonation, sitting down copying Logan's seating position.

"I really shouldn't have pushed for the Clint Eastwood marathon. Now I've ruined you." Logan complained. "I didn't think it was possible to make you more butch. Stupid, stupid Logan!"

Veronica smiled at him, and he finally looked over at her.

"Wanna feel like a real man and walk me to class?"

"Carry your books?" Veronica offered, leaning over for a kiss.

"Why not. Guess who I saw on campus today?" Logan asked as they walked

"Some girls going wild?" Veronica asked. "As I understand it, it happens all the time in college. I'm on the verge of it right now," she told him, her voice getting serious.

"No. Dick, my BFF." Logan told her.

"I thought he was crashing with his Dad in the Caymans."

"He's back."

"Did you guys talk?"

"Ya, but it was brief. I shouted his name, he flipped me off. The bonds of friendship," Logan smiled hitting his fists together.

"It was enough of a struggle getting you into Hearst. How do you think he managed?" Veronica asked.

"His mom re-married Schwarzenegger's business manager."

"Ah!" Veronica cried in understanding.

"Ya, I'm sure a call from the governor can get you into most colleges in the state. Hey," Logan stopped, looking a Veronica seriously. "People are saying Dick's a mess. You know on account of his brother Greg Louganising off the roof."

"It wasn't your fault Cassidy jumped," Veronica assured him.

"Nothing's ever my fault." Logan commented, giving Veronica a peck on the lips and taking his books from her. "I'm going to go to class. Here's the car keys. I'll see you in a few hours."

"Have fun learning," Veronica smiled up at him, taking the keys.

Veronica had just made it home and was about to grab a cold slice of pizza from the fridge when her phone started ringing.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Veronica!" Wallace's voice flowed through the phone.

"Wallace, my friend. Whatever can I do for you?"

"Here's the thing. My new roommate, Piz, just had all his stuff stolen from his car and I told him that you could find it. You did say you were planning on getting back into it, right?"

"Ya, I am. I'll do it." Veronica promised, grabbing her keys and the slice of pizza.

"Thanks! He lost all his clothes, his computer, a guitar and basically all his worldly possessions." Wallace listed as she drove.

"OK, great. Which dorm are you?"

A few minutes later, she was knocking on Wallace's dorm door. A guy answered the door, a little bit taller than Veronica with brown boy band hair.

"Hi, I'm Veronica. Are you Piz?" she asked.

"Yes, um, hi. I'm Piz." The guy stared at her, stumbling over his words. Veronica waited for a second, but when he didn't make a move to let her in, or say anything else, she peeked around him.

"Wallace? Are you in there somewhere?"

"Ya, come in!" Wallace called, and she side stepped the roommate walking inside.

"And you call yourself college men?" Veronica demanded. "Where are the posters with beer and half naked ladies?"

"Oh, it's behind the case of porn and my shot glass collection!" Wallace smiled, jumping onto her bit seamlessly. "So it looks like Piz is just gonna let the sheriff handle things."

"Actually!" Piz jumped in, "I'd love your help."

"As for my fee," Veronica turned to him, crossing her arms. "500, payable in cash, cashier's cheque or a pre-agreed upon exchange of goods and services."

"I can give you guitar lessons!" Piz offered.

"Pass," Veronica told him, immediately picturing herself trying to learn guitar while 8 months pregnant, unable to hold the guitar on her lap from the size of her stomach. "On the bright side," she continued, "if I don't get your stuff back you owe me nothing." She turned back to Wallace, smiling broadly. "That's the friend of a friend rate."

"Wait, I haven't even decided if he's cool yet," Wallace told her.

"Well act fast. Time is running out on this special offer." Veronica smiled, turning back to Piz who look utterly confused. "Let's go take a look at the car." She volunteered, heading back to the door. "So what happened?"

"So I pulled into the parking lot and there was this..." he stopped and thought for a second. "Heavy-set girl." He finally finished, his tone unsure of whether or not he had picked the right word. "With a clipboard. She had a Hearst sweatshirt and cap on. She checked my name off a list, told me which dorm was mine, and she said she'd keep an eye on my stuff while I went and found my room."

"This girl, did she look like a student?" Veronica asked as they walked.

"I guess, she said she was front of the Hearst Welcome Wagon Committee."

"Wallace said that you lost your clothes, your computer, a guitar-"

"No, not just a guitar, okay? It was a 1967 Gretsch Astro-jet Red-top." Piz cut her off, suddenly sounding incredibly excited and horribly sad all at the same time. Veronica held up her hands in surrender as he spoke. "It's like the holy grail of guitars, okay? I spent two summers mowing lawns just to earn enough to buy it! This is it." He stopped in front of a dirt covered green hatchback.

"They stole your stuff and covered your car in dirt?" Veronica asked, checking the doors. "They're not welcome here. Doesn't look like they jimmied their way in." She observed.

"It wasn't locked."

Veronica looked over at him, slightly stunned ay how stupid people could be sometimes.

"College campus, all your worldly possessions. Where are you from, Brigadoon?"

Wallace laughed quietly at her joke, but Piz seemed to take it seriously.

"Portland, or well, just outside of Portland, this little suburb called Beaverton. Real salt of the earth people, you know- minivan in every driveway, chicken in every pot."

"Where they never ask rhetorical questions?" Veronica asked, continuing her walk around the car.

"The welcome wagon girl said she'd watch my car!" Piz insisted, following her.

"This is how you know you've gone from high school to college. Graffiti goes high brow." Wallace quipped, pointing at the side of the car, where someone had written "unwashed" in the dirt.

"Wash me is just so 2005."

Veronica laughed, and turned back to Piz. "Come on Beaverton. Let's go talk to your RA." She lead the way inside.

"Hi, I'm Veronica, this is Piz and Wallace." Veronica greeted the guy who opened the door at the end of the hall.

"Moe. Can I help you with something? I was just going to make a cup of tea. Want one?"

"No, thanks." Veronica followed him inside, the boys close behind her. "Piz just had all his stuff stolen from his car."

"All your stuff?" Moe asked, pouring hot water into a mug. "Frak, that blows!"

"Qu' est-ce que c'est? Frak?" Veronica asked, completely lost.

"No Battlestar Galactica fans in the mix, I see. Frak is the profanity of the future. I'm trying not to swear." Moe explained.

"That's very enlightened of you, Moe," Veronica smiled, trying not to mock him openly. "So what the Frak is with this Hearst Welcome Wagon Committee?"

"It doesn't exist," Moe told her, then held out his cup. "Oolong anyone?"

"No. Thanks for your help," Veronica smiled and exited the room.

"So that's not what I was thinking would be happening right now," Piz mused, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Ya, well I have somewhere to be. I'll start working and let you know." She promised Piz. "See you later, Wallace!" she waved and headed for the parking lot, where Logan was leaning against her car.

"So how was your first day?" Veronica asked, reaching up for a kiss.

"Good. How was yours?" Logan asked, climbing into the passenger's seat.

"Exhausting! I had one whole class!"

"I know. I dropped you off there this morning. Did you make any friends?"

"In the class? Lord, no!" Veronica laughed.

"Enemies?"

"Well...?"

"Didn't we discuss that this morning?" Logan laughed.

"Hey, you mess with the bull!" Veronica told him, making a pair of horns with her fingers.

"Whatever you say Bobcat."

"I did get a case."

"Oh ya?"

"Wallace's roommate had all his stuff stolen from his car by a made-up welcome committee. I'm charging him $500 to get it back."

"Not bad, Mars. Been back on the job a week and you've already got yourself a paying gig."

"Well, I'd rather be working than thinking about who should be working." Veronica said quietly, purposefully not looking at Logan.

"It's okay to miss him," Logan told her.

"I know. I just don't like thinking about it."

"I know." Logan reached over and rubbed her arm softly.

"When's your next class?" Veronica asked, changing the subject.

"Tomorrow morning. Sociology. You?"

"Tomorrow afternoon. Cultural Anthropology."

"Well that sounds like fun."

"I guess I'll find out tomorrow. Sociology sounds equally as fun."

"Aren't you taking sociology?" Logan asked her.

"Yes, but not until next semester. I'm counting on you to give me all your homework."

"Well I guess I'll have to work pretty hard. Can't have my girl getting bad grades." Logan joked, climbing out of the car.

"Come on," he held his hand out to Veronica as she locked the car. "Let's go upstairs and you can tell me about the enemies that you made this time."


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Veronica was on her way back from her class the next afternoon when she was distracted by people yelling and clapping. She followed the noise, and found herself at a Take Back the Night rally.

"We are here to ask one question to the students of this university, the faculty of this university and the dean of this university!" A woman with her head shaved was standing on a stage, speaking into a megaphone. "How many women like me have to be raped, have to end up like this, their heads shaved before this administration listens to our demands?"

Veronica moved farther into the crowd as it called back its agreement.

"Two wasn't enough? Three wasn't enough. They say they're taking steps. Awesome. The dorms are same sex. Is that enough?"

"NO!" the crowd answered her question loudly.

"We demand more!" the woman called as Veronica looked around. "Mandatory sensitivity training, an official university sexual conduct code, more security personnel, more outdoor lights- twice as bright, and most of all, Dean O'Dell, shut down the fraternities!" The crowd reached an all time roar, and Veronica saw a familiar face.

"Women!" she said softly, walking up behind Mac. "Bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch."

She could see Mac smiling broadly, but she didn't look back at her.

"Why can't they just look pretty and get their MRS degrees?" Mac asked, as Veronica took a step to stand beside her.

"How's tricks, kid?"

"Shrink asked if a lifetime without a libido is such a bad thing. I think she's given up on me."

"You just need more time," Veronica promised her, trying to sound comforting. That's what they all needed. The only problem was that you can't always get it.

"Irony of all ironies?" Mac asked. "Frozen from the waist down's new roommate? She's a one woman red light district."

"Really?" Veronica asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Every night since orientation she's been with some new dude. The phone rings every ten minutes. If college is a boy buffet, she's got two full plates and a purse full of boys wrapped in napkins."

"Yet the void won't fill," Veronica commented.

Mac was about to reply, when their attention was drawn to a group of frat boys, holding up a boom box and cheering on somebody on the stage. They turned back to see a guy in union jack underwear and a balaclava, dancing on stage with a blow up doll.

"It's like we never left Neptune High," Mac commented as three girls rush the guy and hold him down to the ground while another girl knees him in the balls, and then pulls off the balaclava to reveal none other than Logan's BFF Dick Casablancas.

"It's _exactly_ like we never left Neptune High." Veronica agreed, watching Dick groaning on the ground.

"So how are you and Logan doing? How was the honeymoon?" Mac asked as they walked away from the crowd.

"It was fantastic!" Veronica told her, pretending to swoon.

"Sex on the beach?" Mac joked.

"Doesn't live up to the movies. Way too much sand!" Veronica smiled.

"But seriously, what did you guys do, other than that."

"We went to the beach, and swam and went to the zoo and the aquarium. I got to play with a chinchilla!"

"The giant fuzzy hamsters?"

"Exactly. It was just so cute!"

"Anything else exciting happen?"

Veronica almost told her about the pregnancy, but stopped herself. Her and Logan hadn't talked about how or when they would tell people yet, and she didn't want to do it without him, even if Mac was one of her best friends.

"No, nothing really. I got a new car."

"You did!? Where is it? Let me see!" Mac cried, jumping up and down. Veronica laughed and led the way to the parking garage where she had parked.

"It's so pretty!" Mac cooed. "Logan finally made you get something to replace the Le Baron?"

"Ya, he insisted that I needed something safer. He just doesn't understand my need to live dangerously."

"I think h understands it better than you do," Mac laughed, climbing into the passenger's seat. "Alright, give me a ride to my dorm, let's see how this baby runs."

"Ay ay, Captain." Veronica saluted as she started the engine and backed out.

"So I saw your BFF today," Veronica told Logan as they sat eating dinner.

"Oh ya? Where?" Logan asked.

"At a Take Back the Night rally. He crashed the party in union jack underpants and a balaclava, and got his ass kicked by three girls."

"Well, they still haven't got you beat."

"Nobody will ever beat me when it comes to injuring Dick Casablancas." Veronica promised with a smile. "That being said, I think you were right yesterday. He seems worse than usual. Maybe you should try talking to him again."

"I'll try, but he really doesn't want to talk to me." Logan shrugged. "What were you doing at a Take Back the Night rally?"

"It's a topic that I have a personal interest in," Veronica reminded him, but he wasn't buying it. Veronica had never taken an interest in rape safety after Shelley Pomroy's party, other than that of herself and her friends.

"That, and it was loud and caught my eye while I was walking back to my car. Then I saw Mac, so I stayed and talked to her for a bit."

"How's she doing?"

"She's having a hard time. We all are. Grad night took it's toll on everyone."

"I know. We just need more time, that's all."

"That's what I told Mac. Speaking of telling Mac things, we have to talk about when we're gonna tell people, about me being pregnant."

"Your call," Logan told her, but she shook her head.

"It's your choice too. It's _our_ baby. Not just mine."

"Okay, fine. When do you think we should tell them?"

"Well, most people wait until 12 weeks to tell people, but we can tell people whenever we want. We've already had the first appointment and heard the heartbeat, and we're only going to be telling a couple people-"

"What you're saying is that you want to tell people now." Logan laughed.

"Just Mac and Wallace," Veronica assured him. "Well, and Lily and Dad but they're obviously not going to tell anyone."

"I'm all for telling people." Logan told her. "Especially Sheriff Mars and Lily. Do you want to make a trip to the cemetery after dinner?"

"Sure," Veronica smiled.

"Lily!" Logan cried, jumping onto her grave and dancing a little jig. "So good to see you darling! Veronica here has a special announcement for you."

"Logan, stop that!" Veronica cried, pulling him off the grass in front of Lily's headstone and sitting down cross legged.

"Hi Lily, ignore Logan and his inability to respect the dead."

"I'm giving Lily all the respect she got when she was alive." Logan argued.

"You were dancing on her grave!"

"She loved dancing!" Logan said, sitting down beside her.

"_Come on Veronica Mars, get to the exciting part!" _Veronica heard Lily's voice in her head and smiled.

"I'm pregnant."

"Well, _we're_ pregnant." Logan amended, putting an arm around Veronica's neck and pulling her towards him. "Granted, Veronica will be doing all the hard work-"

"Not that that's a new thing." Veronica said, pulling away from his grip and putting her head on his shoulder. "I wish you could be here, Lily. You would have been an amazing Aunt. I would have wanted to kill you half the time, but you would have been amazing."

"_Well of course I would have. Everything I do is amazing!" _ Veronica smiled, thinking about how happy Lily would have been if she were here.

"If it's a girl, I want her middle name to be Lily," Veronica said turning to Logan.

"I think that's a great idea," Logan smiled. "I'm gonna go see my mom. You should tell Lily about our honeymoon."

"Okay," Veronica smiled softly as he got up and walked up the hill a ways to Lynne's plot.

"_Well? Spill! How was it?"_

"It was amazing. We went to Hawaii, and it was so beautiful! He took me to a dinner safari at the zoo, and I got to play with a Chinchilla."

"_Screw Chinchillas! How was the sex?"_

"Amazing!" Veronica swooned. "It's so much better when you're pregnant, Lil. SO much better. You would have loved it!" Veronica stopped and smiled to herself. "It's so weird talking about this with you, especially since you're not actually talking to me, you're just in my head."

"_Well, you have to tell someone! Who else are you going to talk to about this kind of stuff? Mac? Wallace? I'm your best friend. You're obviously going to tell me even if I'm not really here."_

Veronica smiled and leaned forward, putting her hand on the gravestone. "I love you, Lily. I'll come back soon."

"_Don't wait too long, Veronica Mars! I get bored so very easily."_

Veronica headed up the hill and joined Logan.

"And here she is now! My beautiful bride!" Logan smiled, holding out a hand for Veronica to take. "I was just filling mother dearest in on how amazing married life is. Hadn't gotten to the big news yet. But now that you're here," he turned back to the grave. "You're gonna be a grandma." Logan smiled, patting his mom's headstone. "Now, I know what you're going to say, 'I'm too young and beautiful to be a grandmother!' but think of it this way. All the other grandmothers up there are old and wrinkled, you're gonna win all the beauty contests!" Veronica smiled, imagining Lynne's face if she had been there when Logan told her this.

"Well, that's all. We have to go tell Veronica's dad, unless you've already done that. I know you've taken over the gossip circuit up there."

"Bye, Lynn." Veronica patted the stone as she walked away.

"Hi Daddy," she whispered as they came to Keith's plot. "I'm sorry I haven't been to see you lately. I've been getting Mars Investigations back up and running and school started yesterday. Plus there was my honeymoon and stuff..." she trailed off, blushing slightly as she thought about the things she had just told Lily a few minutes before.

"Hey Keith." Logan jumped in. "How's it going. I took your daughter to Hawaii a couple weeks ago, I tried to teach her how to surf, but she chickened out like usual."

"I told you, I can't!" Veronica argued before she realized what she was saying. "That's why I came to see you, Dad. Not that I have to have a reason, it's just that today I did. We're pregnant. You're gonna be a grandpa, just like you always wanted." She tried to smile, but was imagining what her father would be saying right now. How angry he would probably be.

"I know that it probably doesn't seem like the best timing, but we're happy. _I'm_ happy. I hope that you'll be happy too. I just wanted you to know." She held her hand out, and Logan pulled her to her feet, wiping a tear from her cheek.

"What's wrong?"

"I just keep thinking that if he were here, he would be so angry right now."

"I don't think he would be. I think he would be happy if you were happy, especially given the situation."

Veronica shrugged, leaning her head against his chest.

"Ready to go?"

"Ya." Veronica wiped her eyes and nodded.

"Okay." Logan wrapped an arm around her and guided her back to the Xterra. "I'm happy, if that helps at all." He offered as they drove. Veronica looked over, giving him a small smile.

"Ya, it does." She turned back to the window, staring quietly.

"I'm happy too," she said finally giving Logan a quick smile.

The next morning, Veronica picked up Piz to go to the Sheriff's department and file a report.

"It's a cool ride." Piz told her as they got out. "Graduation gift?"

"No." She knew she sounded sharp, but she didn't really care.

"Well," Piz tried to break the silence. "A Saturn for a Mars."

"In Neptune!" Veronica finished. "Ya, the planets really aligned for this one. Now, move Uranus." She motioned towards the building and stepped ahead of him, picking up the pace. "The mercury's rising."

They got into the building and Sacks filled out the report for Piz.

"Don't feel too bad. Same outfit got four other victims. At least that's how many we've heard about. All of 'em in the span of ninety minutes." Sacks told them.

"Yeah, I guess that's comforting. Somehow." Piz sighed.

"Well, they must have had a truck or a van. You mind giving me a list of the other victims?" Veronica asked.

"I don't know Veronica," Sacks looked behind him towards Lamb's office.

"I track down the bad guys. Call you, you make the busts. You know what that makes everyone Sacks?" Veronica asked. "A winner!"

"Fine," Sacks huffed, handing over the files.

"Thanks, Sacks." Veronica smiled sweetly, putting the files in her bag. "Let's go Piz."

"But the report isn't finished!"

"Ya, the report doesn't matter." Veronica called as she walked away.

"Is she always like that?" Piz asked Sacks.

"Yep," Sacks sat down and went back to his paperwork. Leaving Piz to chase after Veronica.

"So what now?" Piz asked once they were back in the car.

"Now you go back to your dorm, and I go have a chat with some other poor victims."

"I can help!" Piz offered.

"No offence, but you'll just slow me down." Veronica told him, pulling up outside his dorm hall. "I'll let you know if I find anything."

Veronica spent the afternoon talking to the other victims, all of whom agreed with Piz's description of the Welcome Wagon girl. She was on her way back to the parking lot when she passed a fryer advertising a concert- the unwashed. Veronica smiled to herself, ripping down the flier and going home to change. She had to look the part for a punk concert after all.

"Hey, what are you getting dressed for?" Logan asked, walking into their bedroom to see her smearing on eyeliner and wearing a shirt with fake tattoo sleeves.

"I have a concert to go to."

"Where was my invitation?" Logan asked, pulling off his shirt, which was covered in sweat.

"You have a class. Where were you?" Veronica asked, taking in his state.

"I had weight-lifting and then I went for a run." Logan said, walking over to where she was sitting in front of a mirror. "Want a hug?" he offered, holding his arms open and grinning.

"No, stay away from me." Veronica got up from her chair, backing up with her hands up.

"Come on, Sugarpuss! Give me a hug." He quickened his pace, trying to catch up to her.

"No. Logan, I swear to God I will taze your sorry ass if you-" But she was too late. Logan made a run for it and before she could get to the door he was on her, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her sloppily on the cheek.

"I love you, Bobcat!" he smiled, laughing as she wriggled her way out.

"You're disgusting! Go take a shower!" Veronica cried, spraying herself with some perfume.

"Who are you going to the concert with?" Logan asked as he walked towards the bathroom.

"Wallace, Mac and Piz. Why?"

"Just wondering."

"Sure." Veronica smiled at his over-protectiveness. It was sweet, but she would never tell him that. "I'm heading out. I'll see you later tonight." She promised, grabbing her bag off the bed.

A few minutes later she was knocking on Mac's door. The door was covered by a large white board, full of comments and names with the words "Parker loves you!" written in the middle. Beside the white board was a small piece of masking tape with Mac's name on it.

"Hey!" A tall, bubbling blonde girl answered the door as loud music poured out from behind her.

"Mac around?" Veronica asked.

"Oh my god! Are you one of Mac's friends?"

Veronica nodded, sticking her hands in her pockets.

"Well, come on in sister!" The girl beamed and stepped aside, waving Veronica into the room. "Mac's friends are my friends. I'm Parker." The girl held out her hand.

"Veronica," she smiled and took it.

"So, I just love Mac. Like love her," Parker gushed. "Like, I wish she was a little Bichon Frise that I could carry in my purse. I mean, how great is she?"

"She's, pretty great." Veronica agreed, a little taken aback by how excited Parker was.

"I was a little weirdly disappointed," Parker continued walking over to her bed and pulling her shirt over her head, much to Veronica's surprise. "Because I had this idea that I would get like this gangster street chick or some death metal girl and we'd be like all odd couple. But with me and Mac it was just, whoosh! Instant sisterhood. Total mesh, total blend. You know, you should come watch Top Model with us tonight!" Parker suggested.

"Mac's watching Top Model?" Veronica asked, trying her best to hide her scepticism.

"Mm Hmm." Parker nodded absent mindedly, hanging up the top she had been wearing beside a poster of Colin Farrell.

"Oooh, yours or Mac's?" Veronica asked, changing the subject.

"Collin?" Parker asked. "Oh, he's all mine. He should really love me, don't you think?"

"Depends. Have you had your shots?"

"Look at his eyes." Parker swooned. "He's just so... soulful, troubled and deep. You just know he'd kick ass in the back seat."

Veronica was slightly taken aback again, that not being the turn she had thought this conversation was going to take. Thankfully she was saved from continuing the conversation when the door opened, bearing Mac.

"Hey, Roomie!" Parker cried cheerfully.

"Hey." Mac looked even less enthusiastic than usual.

"Wanna go see a band play?" Veronica asked, turning to her friend.

"More than anything in the world."

"Oh my god! I'm so totally in!" Parker cried. "Just give me a second to change." She turned back to the clothing rack, undoing her shirt and pulling a new one of a hanger. Veronica looked over at Mac, who was looking back at her, both incredibly uncomfortable with the situation.

"I'll drive," Veronica offered, turning towards the door..

"Great!" Parker grabbed her purse and followed behind them. Parker jabbered away the whole way to the club, talking about everything from clothes to music to her classes. By the time they got there, Veronica was ready to knock her unconscious with her purse.

"Hey, I know that guy!" Mac smiled as they walked up to the club, seeing Wallace standing out front.

"Our muscle. Short notice," she added seeing the look on Mac's face.

"Your boyfriends?" Parker asked as Wallace and Piz walked towards them.

"No," Mac snapped, noticing Veronica fiddling with her wedding ring.

"What's up, V?" Wallace greeted. "Hey, Mac."

"Wallace, Piz, this is Parker. Parker, Wallace and Piz. And this is Mac. Mac, Piz." Veronica introduced everybody and handshakes were spread around.

"So gang, are we ready to rock?" Veronica asked in a falsely excited tone, holding her hands up in a rock and roll sign.

"No." Mac replied.

"Not particularly." Wallace agreed.

"That's the spirit!" Veronica squealed, leading them inside.

"Woo Hoo!" Parker cheered as they walked in, causing everybody else to look at her quizzically. They found a table near the back and ordered drinks, listening to the bad punk music while Parker danced with a couple guys in front of the stage.

"She seems nice," Piz commented, motioning towards where Parker was dancing. Veronica and Mac both stared at him, unsure what to make of this. Before they could find something to say, the song ended. Mac clapped wholeheartedly, and Veronica jumped from her seat as the singer pitched Cd's.

"That's my cue!" she called, running to the stage.

"What's she doing?" Piz asked, staring after her in a way that Wallace wasn't a fan of.

"I don't know." He mumbled.

"Alright! Give it up for the unwashed!" Veronica cried, now standing at the microphone, clapping. The crowd cheered and whistled along with her, and she waved her hands to quiet them down.

"I've got a little public service announcement. My friend had everything stolen out of his car over at Hearst, in the parking lot of Venice hall." The crowd cheered and she gave a small smile. Piz, however, was anything but pleased at the cheering.

"All right, all right." Veronica quieted the crowd again. "We think someone here might have seen something. My friend is offering a hundred dollar reward for information that'll help him get his stuff back. We're back at that table if you know something," Veronica pointed to the table that Wallace, Piz and Mac were occupying and then returned to her seat. Parker was chatting up the lead singer of the unwashed, laughing at something he had said, while Veronica and Mac watched her. "Look at her. She's like boynip." Mac commented, as three boys walked up to their table.

"We saw you get ripped off." The first boy said, stepping in front of the other two.

"You're twelve." Veronica said sceptically. "What were you doing at Hearst?"

"Checking out the college girls laying out. Some of them go topless!" His friend piped up.

"Whoa, whoa. Hold up right there, son." Wallace interrupted. "Tell us _exactly_ where this sunbathing goes on."

"South quad, where that statue is." The boy told him, grinning sheepishly.

"What are you saying you saw?" Veronica asked the first boy, trying to get them back on subject, but Piz wasn't done learning about the sunbathers.

"Is it the Randolph Hearst statue or the amorphous blobby thing?" He asked.

"Hey!" Veronica waved her hand in front of Piz, bringing his attention back to her. "Breasts or the Holy Grail guitar?" she asked, weighing the options with her hands.

"We'd just come back from the parking lot. We saw two dudes in a moving van pull up by this car. They just started throwing stuff from the car into the van in a major hurry." The first kid said, turning back to Veronica.

"Anything you remember about the two dudes or the van?" Veronica asked.

"They were black dudes."

"Course they were," Wallace said, throwing his hands up.

"And the van didn't have any windows. It was white, I think?"

"Is that all?" Veronica asked, hoping to get something else but not expecting much.

"That's a lot!" The kid protested. "Where's our reward?"

"You didn't see squat! Motor, munchkins!" She shooed them away, turning to talk to Wallace. The boys turned, walking away, but then the first boy turned back.

"There was a chick there. A white chick." He offered, trying futily to win Veronica's good will.

"Course there was." Veronica nodded, taking a sip of her drink.

"She hopped up in the cab with them."

"Blonde? Chubby?" Piz asked.

"Naw, that was the weird part!" the kid said, pointing at Piz. "I thought she was a heifer at first, but when she in she pulled off her sweatshirt... she had a slammin' bod! Girl was packed tight, like she was wearing a fat suit."

Veronica stared at them in surprise, they had actually provided some useful information.

"So do we get our reward now?" The kid asked, looking at Veronica who glared at them, but reached into her pocket and pulled out a twenty dollar bill.

"Here, buy yourselves some ice cream." She handed them the money and grabbed her bag. "I gotta get out of here, the smell of beer is starting to get to me." Veronica said, causing Mac and Wallace to look at her oddly.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

"How was your concert?" Logan asked when she opened the door.

"Very informative." Veronica told him, dropping onto the couch beside him and putting her head in his lap.

"Oh yeah? What did you learn?" he asked, stroking her hair softly.

"The chubby blonde girl who conned people out of there stuff, was actually incredibly attractive, at least to a 12 year old, and the smell of beer makes me nauseous."

"Both of those things are very important to know," Logan agreed, offering Veronica a sip of his Diet Coke. She waved him off, sitting back up and heading to the kitchen to get some water.

"Did Duncan leave any clothes here when he left?" Veronica asked suddenly, leaning against the counter.

"Ya... Why?" Logan asked, turning around to face her.

"Piz doesn't have any clothes. I thought I would be a nice person and give him some until I find his stuff. They look around the same size."

"Okay. They're might be some clothes left in his closet if you go and check."

"Thanks." Veronica smiled and walked over to the bedroom that she had been in numerous times before and felt a strange sense of nostalgia. It had been over a year since she had stepped foot in here, but she remembered her time spent in it well. Not that she missed it, she was in love with Logan. That being said, she still missed Duncan sometimes. He had been one of her best friends, and she had loved him. She just hadn't been in love with him. She went to the closet and grabbed the few shirts and jeans that he had left there, throwing them in a bag and pulling out her cellphone to text Piz and get him to meet her outside of her psychology class the next morning. Once that was done, she slumped back into the living room, threw the bag on the coffee table and kissed Logan.

"I'm going to bed." She explained, heading towards their bedroom, pulling the elastic out of her hair and tugging off her shirt.

"Goodnight!" Logan called, watching her go. She waved absently before sliding the door shut and falling onto the bed. When Logan came in a few hours later, he found her fast asleep on top of the comforter, still in her jeans and bra. Logan smiled to himself, wondering how in the hell he had wound up lucky enough to get this girl to fall in love with him, before pulling her jeans off and tucking her under the covers, brushing her hair out of her face.

Veronica walked out of class, heading to the bench where she had told Piz to meet her.

"Hey!" she smiled and sat down beside him, handing him the bag of clothes. "These are for you. Clothes. A friend of mine's , he can't use them anymore." She told him, leaving out the reason that he couldn't use them, seeing as Duncan was still a wanted kidnapper. "You look about the same size."

"Thanks." Piz looked into the bag, sifting through it's contents.

"Mm hmm. Oh, and I think I found your guitar. It popped up on Craigslist late last night and the seller's just off campus. Do you have a class, or do you want to come with me?"

"No, I can come with you." Piz said, jumping off the bench and offering her a hand. Veronica looked at it skeptically, then got up off the bench leading the way to her car.

"Here it is," she said a few minutes later, pulling into a driveway and turning off the car. She stepped onto the porch and knocked on the door, which was immediately answered by a shorter guy with short brown hair.

"You here about the guitar?" he asked.

"That's us." He moved aside to hold the door open, motioning them inside.

"I wasn't really looking for a guitar," he explained, leading them down a hallway. "But I went to the flea market yesterday and I found this. Girl was selling for $500. She had no idea what she had. You won't find one of these for under five grand. But I'd be willing to let it go for four," he offered, opening a guitar case to show them.

"That's it!" Piz cried. "That's my stolen guitar!"

"What?" the guy asked, looking between the two of them.

"Go ahead. Look in the pick tray, you'll find two millimetre picks from Guitar Town in Portland."

The guy did as he said, and did in fact find the picks.

"Yeah, so?" he asked.

"This girl who sold you the guitar," Veronica butted in, trying to draw his attention back to her. "Can you describe her?"

"Blonde. Thin. Pretty smokin' bod."

Piz slapped Veronica's arm, as if that would help make his point. She already knew that this was the right guitar, she didn't need Piz slapping her.

"Look, here's the deal. This guitar was stolen from Piz's car the other day at Hearst College. And I know that you bought it fair and square, but technically..." Veronica explained, leaving her last words hanging in the air. The guy stared at her for a few minutes, seemingly thinking about what she had just told him.

"Okay, I understand your point. I'll tell you what. You can buy it back for the $500 I got it for."

Piz looked like he was about to argue, but Veronica spoke before he could.

"That's so nice of you!" Veronica smiled sweetly, putting on a flirty act which made the guy blush.

"It's no trouble, really. I'm sorry about all this."

Veronica continued smiling at him. "Can you just make sure not to sell it to anybody for a couple days?" She asked. "We just have to get the money together."

"Sure, no problem. Just give me a call when you're ready to get it."

"Thanks. I'll talk to you soon!" Veronica called as she pulled Piz from the room and back out to the car.

"Wait, I thought I was buying back my guitar!" Piz asked, following her.

"I thought that maybe the thief could pay for it instead." Veronica told him, heading back to Campus.

"Wait, do you know who it is?" Piz asked, leaning forward to look at her face.

"No, but I do have a pretty good lead." Veronica promised, parking her car and pulling her camera out of the back seat. "I'll come find you in a little bit, I have someone to talk to."

"Alright," Piz shrugged, watching as she walked away towards the dormitories.

Veronica headed straight to Rose's room, the sophomore who got ripped off, she readied the camera and then knocked.

"Smile!" she cried when the door opened. She quickly snapped a picture and then walked away. "Thanks!"

"Hey, wait a minute!" Rose called after her, angrily. Veronica chose to ignore this and headed straight to Wallace and Piz's room, only to find a "Gone Bird Watching" sign taped to their door. Shaking her head in disdain, she headed towards the South quad where she found the boys pretending to play hacky sack.

"You guys are pathetic," she told them, taking her camera out of her bag.

"It's a white man's sport!" Wallace defended himself.

"Ya, because I was talking about the hacky sack. Piz, is this the Welcome Wagon girl?" She held her camera up for him, showing him the picture of Rose. Piz glanced down distractedly, trying to focus on the sunbathers as well as the photo.

"Hard to say. Maybe."

"Add a few extra pounds," she instructed, slightly annoyed.

"Yeah. I'm trying. I don't think it's her." Piz said, turning back to the grass.

"It's not often you get to see bikini babes in their natural habitat. Such gentle, yet elusive creatures." Veronica quipped, trying to get the boys attention back, unsuccessfully. "Okay, you two have fun being gross. I'll just keep trying to find your stuff, on my own, with no help."

"That's why you make the big money!" Piz called after her distractedly.

Veronica left the boys and headed back to Donald the guitar buyer's place.

"Hi again," she smiled sweetly when he came to the door.

"Hi, come on in!" He led her back into the living room.

"Is this the girl who sold you the guitar?" She asked, holding out her camera.

"Umm, ya. I'm 90% sure that's her. Eh, well. You know what, make it 80%"

Veronica sighed, putting her camera away, then noticed the book sitting on his coffee table.

"Hey, are you in Landry's Profiling class?" she asked, pointing at the book.

"Last year. Yeah, man's tough."

"I have him for Intro to Criminology. Did you do the mentoring thing? Cause I'm thinking about it."

"Best thing I ever did as an undergrad," he assured her. "You can read all about street crime in a text book, but mentoring takes everything out of the theoretical, really grounds it. You should sign up."

Veronica nodded, looking around the room. And then she saw it. The picture that solved her entire case.

"Oh my god! You can settle a debate for me!" she told him, walking over and picking up the picture. Is this the Empire State Building or the Chrysler Building?"

"Actually, that's the Space Needle in Seattle." Donald told her.

"I have to remember not to debate my boyfriend when it comes to architecture. It is his major after all." She lied, looking back at the picture. "Can I have a glass of water?"

"Sure," he smiled and walked to the kitchen. While he was gone, she quickly slipped the picture into her bag. "Thanks!" she smiled, taking the glass from him and drinking it quickly. "I have a class to get to. Thanks for your help!" she smiled, showing herself out the door before he noticed the missing picture. On her way to class she called Mac and asked her to come be her distraction after class.

"All you have to do is ask Tim to go back to the lecture hall."

"I'll be there!" Mac promised.

After class, Veronica approached Tim about the mentoring thing, and got herself into the office. When Mac showed up, she quickly ran to the filing cabinet to find her proof. Skimming the files, she found them. The three boys who had given them the tip about Piz's car, all of whom had been mentored by Donald. Veronica quickly put the files in her purse, returned everything to it's place and joined Mac in the hallway.

"Wanna get something to eat?" Mac asked as they left the hall.

"Can't. I'm meeting Logan for dinner before his class."

"Okay, but we need to do something soon."

"Definitely. We should have dinner. You, me, Wallace and Logan."

"Sure," Mac smiled. "I'll see you later!" She called as they split off at the student union.

"Hey!" she smiled and leaned down to kiss Logan, who had already picked up some food for the both of them.

"How's the case?" Logan asked as she sat down.

"I just solved it." Veronica beamed, eating a fry.

"That's my girl."

"So, Wallace says you're in his Sociology class." Veronica told him.

"Oh ya? I haven't seen him there."

"Maybe because you haven't showed up for class." Veronica suggested, raising an eyebrow.

"Well that's certainly one possibility." Logan admitted, taking her hand.

"I thought we discussed the whole going to class thing. You have to go this semester so that I don't have to go next semester." Veronica told him, taking a sip from her pop bottle.

"In my defence, that was the day I was trying to talk to Dick. I followed him to the beach to go surfing that day."

"I suppose that's a good excuse." Veronica admitted. "Look, it's your BFF the town drunk," Veronica pointed across the cafeteria to where Dick had just sat down across from a girl. Logan and Veronica stared as he talked to the girl for a minute, until her boyfriend came back and pulled threw him from his chair.

"Your bag," Logan says, turning to Veronica who quickly tosses it to him.

Veronica watched as Dick got the snot beaten out of him. She had to give it to him, though. He kept trying to get up. The girls very large boyfriend got three hits in before Logan came up behind him and tazed him, much to the surprise of the rest of the other students around them.

"What? Do you want a hug or something?" Dick demanded, staring at him as he climbed to his feet before stomping off.

Logan watched him walk away, sadly. Before turning back to see a guy standing beside Veronica.

Piz had shown up right as Logan tazed the guy.

"Does that sort of thing work on college girls?" Piz asked, coming up behind Veronica. "Cause I gotta tell ya up front, I'm a lover not a fighter."

Veronica looked up at him, unsure of how to take that comment, or how to respond for that matter. Luckily, Logan came back and she was saved.

"I'm gonna try to talk to him again," Logan told her as he handed her back her bag. He reached down to kiss her, watching Piz as he did. The guy was giving him a weird feeling, and he didn't like it.

"Nice shirt." Logan complimented, looking back at Piz, who seemed to be trying hard not to glare at him. "I'll see you at home." Logan promised, walking away.

"You asked me to meet you here." Piz said, sounding a lot sharper than usual.

"Um, yeah." She dug around in her bag for a minute, and then found the picture. "Is this the welcome wagon girl?" She showed him the picture from Donald's house.

"Ya, that's her." Piz confirmed.

"Great! Meet me at the Sheriff's department tomorrow morning. I'll have your stuff back before noon."

"Cool. I'll see you in the morning." Piz turned abruptly and left, leaving Veronica standing slightly shocked. When she got home, Logan was already waiting for her.

"Did Piz seem a little weird to you?" she asked, dropping onto the couch.

"He seemed a little upset, ya." Logan admitted, turning the TV off.

"I wonder why."

"Because he likes you, and apparently he didn't notice your wedding ring." Logan laughed at how clueless his genius wife could be sometimes.

"What do you mean he likes me?"

"I mean you're hot and smart, and every guy with half a brain likes you. It's burned into our neurological pathways."

"Hmm, I never even noticed."

"Well, you were on a case. You tend to blank out on these things."

Veronica studied his face carefully, trying to detect anything odd.

"You're not angry, or jealous or anything, are you?" Veronica asked him, moving over to sit beside him.

"Of course not. You're my wife, and I would never think that you would like someone else."

"That's not what I mean. You're not going to go put Piz in his place, are you?"

"No. I promise not to go beat him up." Logan sighed, kissing her on the nose.

"Okay, good. Come to bed." Veronica smiled, taking his hand and pulling him to his feet.

The next morning, Veronica showed Sacks the evidence that she had gathered, and gave him Donald's address. Once Piz had confirmed the identity of the girl, they had headed down to Donald's house, taking a seat on the driveway next door.

"Okay, so why would those kids at the club talk to us if they knew they'd stolen my stuff?" Piz asked as they waited for Sacks to show up.

"Um, so they could steer us in the wrong direction? Then they just repeated the story to their mentor so the stories would match." Veronica explained.

"So, you do realize there's not a lot of college freshman girls who do this sort of thing. You know, solve crimes." Piz whispered the last part, as if it were some big secret, instead of open knowledge to every person living in Neptune.

"There aren't!?" Veronica asked, pretending to be surprised.

"So why do you do it?" The question took Veronica by surprise, and she had to take a sip of her drink to take the time to compose herself.

"Cold hard cash," she said staring across the road at the garage.

"Seriously." Piz pressed, making Veronica incredibly uncomfortable. This wasn't the kind of stuff she talked about, especially not with people she had just met. This was the kind of stuff she told Logan when she was having a really hard time and he pushed and pushed to get her to talk.

"Wallace told me about your friend, who was murdered." Piz told her. Veronica looked away unhappily, making a note to tell Wallace to keep his mouth shut.

"I don't know. Because I'm good at it?" Veronica shrugged, taking a drink. "Wallace should stick to analyzing himself."

She looked back across the street in time to see Donald come into the backyard with officer Sacks, arguing.

"You wanna know why I do it?" she asked, leaning over to Piz. "Here it comes. This is the good part."

Donald chose this moment to look over at them, and Veronica raised her bottle in salute.

"I might actually get my stuff back," Piz mused, watching as Sacks fiddled with the garage door.

"I might actually get payed." Veronica countered.

The door opened, and Veronica saw the piles and piles of stuff stacked floor to ceiling, then clinked bottles with Piz.

"Boom goes the dynamite!" She smiled.

"So was that guy from last night your boyfriend?" Piz asked suddenly, looking down at the ground.

Veronica's smile immediately dropped.

"Husband, actually. I guess Wallace left that part of my story out." Veronica said, trying not to make a big deal out of it.

"Husband?" Piz asked incredulously. "How old are you guys?"

"18," Veronica told him, getting up and heading towards her car. "I have a class. I'll pick up my payment tomorrow. See you, Piz!" She waved and climbed into the driver's seat.

She didn't actually have any classes that day, instead she spent the day with Mac, as promised. A trip to the mall and lunch, catching up on what they had missed in the last month. After that, she headed home for a quiet night with Logan. Mac was going to a midnight movie with Wallace and Piz. Veronica was sitting on the couch, waiting for Logan to bring back enough Chinese food to feed all of China, plus some of Thailand, when there was a knock at the door. She opened it to reveal Dick- bruised and dishevelled, looking like he would break down any minute.

"I thought Logan would be here," he muttered, turning to leave.

"He'll be back in a couple minutes," Veronica said, grabbing Dick by the arm and stopping him. "Why?" He stared at her for a few seconds, breathing heavily.

"I have nowhere else to go. And I know you probably hate me, since my brother-" he stopped, looking at Veronica like he hoped she understood. She did, and she gave him a small smile.

"I don't hate you, Dick." She promised, seeing the elevator numbers starting to flash, indicating that someone- namely Logan- was on the way up.

"Come inside. Logan's bringing food." Veronica tugged on his arm, pulling him through the doorway, just as Logan stepped off the elevator.

"Is that-?" he asked, jogging up to her. Veronica nodded and stepped outside the doorway.

"He showed up a few minutes ago, says he has nowhere else to go." Veronica told him, peeking around her shoulder.

"He can stay here," Logan said, then looked down at Veronica for confirmation.

"Of course. At least until the baby's born." Veronica agreed, taking one of the bags Logan was carrying, then the other and heading for the kitchen while Logan went over to Dick.

"Hey man."

"Sorry for just showing up, but-" Logan cut him off, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, man. You can stay here."

Dick nodded, staring blankly at Logan, and then he began to sob. "I messed up bad." He choked, and Logan pulled him into a hug.

"It's gonna be okay," he promised, looking to Veronica for some advice. All she could think, however, was that they had just taken on a very large practice run.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Once they had gotten Dick to eat something, Logan set him up in Duncan's old room and rejoined Veronica on the couch.

"He's a mess," Logan commented, yawning.

"Yeah, but hopefully now that he has a place to live he'll start to get it together a little bit."

"I hope so. Are you sure you're okay with him staying here?'

"Of course. Dick and I are perfectly capable of coexisting without killing each other." The look of scepticism Logan gave her made her laugh softly. "I'm serious! I'm sure we can find a happy medium."

"As long as you're sure."

"I am," Veronica smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm going to bed."

"Me too," Logan followed her. "I have an early sociology class tomorrow."

Logan left the next morning before Veronica or Dick had gotten up. He just hoped that they wouldn't kill each other before he got back. Veronica was woken by the sound of her cellphone ringing, still half asleep she stumbled out of bed to the table where her phone was charging.

"Hello?" she mumbled, not checking her caller ID.

"Hey, it's me." Mac's voice floated through the phone, and she sounded more flat than usual.

"What's up, Mac?"

"Parker was raped last night."

"What?"

"I went with Wallace and Piz to the midnight movie, and then we went out for coffee. They dropped me at the room around 3 in the morning, and I went straight to bed. But when I got up, Parker was screaming and her head was shaved. I just- I just had to tell someone."

"Do you need anything? Does Parker?" Veronica offered.

"No, we're okay. It's just-" Mac stopped, seemingly unsure of whether or not she should go on.

"It's just what?" Veronica prodded.

"Could you talk to Parker, maybe? I understand if you can't but-"

"No, it's fine." Veronica cut her off, speaking quickly. "I'll try. Mac I have to go, sorry." She hung up before Mac could respond and ran for the bathroom, barely stopping herself from throwing up before she got there. She knew this wasn't just regular morning sickness, it had started the second Mac had told her about Parker and gotten worse and worse. Veronica's mind flooded with images from the day after Shelley Pomroy's party, the flashes of memories that she did have from that night, Cassidy admitting to it on the roof. With every image, Veronica wretched and emptied her stomach, sobbing as she did so, unable to keep herself in check. This was probably the worst part of being pregnant- hormones. Veronica was finding it harder and harder to keep her emotions intact, and she knew that it was going to be a problem soon.

"Ronnie?" Dick knocked at the bathroom door softly. "Are you okay?" He sounded so legitimately worried that Veronica pulled herself up, pulled a shirt over her head and opened the door.

"I'm fine," she assured him, flushing the toilet and wiping her eyes.

"It sounded like you were throwing up. Bad hangover?" He tried to joke, but the smile didn't really extend.

"Something like that," Veronica nodded, swigging some mouthwash.

"Seriously. Are you okay? Do you want me to call Logan or something?"

Veronica was stunned by what she was seeing, Dick looked like he legitimately cared whether or not she was okay.

"No, it's fine. Really, Dick." She took a deep breath, pouring herself a cup of coffee. "Mac's roommate Parker was raped last night." She finally admitted. "It just, messed with my head a bit. And my hormones are all over the place anyways-" the words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself, and she immediately regretted them.

"Wait, what?" Dick turned back from where he was checking out the fridge. "Your? But?" Dick stared at Veronica, and glanced down at her stomach.

"Yes, Dick. I'm pregnant!" Veronica admitted. "But you can't tell anyone, okay? Not a soul! Don't even tell Logan I told you, okay? Dick you have to promise me!" She was practically pleading with him.

"Okay, okay. I won't tell him!" Dick promised, putting his hands up in defence. "Are you sure you're okay, though?"

"Ya, I'm sure."

"Good," Dick looked away awkwardly, staring at his shoes.

"Are _you _okay?" Veronica countered, seeing as they seemed to be having a heart to heart moment. Dick kept staring at the floor silently.

"I messed up, Ronnie." He finally admitted, sitting down at the table and putting his head in his hands. "I messed up really bad. And I don't know what to do!"

"What do you mean, you messed up?" Veronica asked, sitting across from him.

"Did you see me last night? I'm a mess!"

"But you haven't done anything illegal?" Veronica prodded.

"No. Not recently."

"Good, because I'm really tired of pulling you and Logan out of trouble."

"When have you ever pulled us out of trouble?" Dick asked, looking at her, finally.

"The entire summer before senior year!" Veronica cried, pouring herself another cup of coffee.

"Isn't coffee bad for pregnant people?" Dick asked.

"Don't change the subject. And how would you know that?"

"Ronnie, how many girls do you think claim I got them pregnant?"

"Far too many to make me feel safe bringing a child into the world." Veronica admitted, putting the coffee cup down.

"Thanks for letting me stay here." Dick said sincerely. Veronica smiled at him, patting his arm as she walked past.

"You'll be good practice." She quipped, bringing things back to normal.

"Are you calling me a child?" Dick demanded.

"Yep!" Veronica smiled back at him before closing the bedroom door so she could get dressed. Veronica sent Logan a text to meet her at Wallace's room after class and headed to Hearst to check in on Mac and Parker.

"Hey, how's everything going?" Veronica asked when Mac opened the door.

"I have 'There's Gotta Be A Morning After' stuck in my head." Mac told her, opening the door a little wider to allow Veronica to squeeze in.

"Hey, Parker," she called towards the lump on the couch, but all she got was a grunt.

"She hasn't said a word since the Sheriff left," Mac told her, leading Veronica to her bed in the back of the room.

"That's not exactly strange." Veronica admitted, sitting down on Mac's bed. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I just feel awful. I should have been here, I shouldn't have gone to the movie!"

"Mac, you can't blame yourself. This wasn't your fault." Veronica looked at the clock and knew that she needed to go meet Logan.

"Look, I have to get going. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I'll come back later, okay?"

"Sure. Thanks, V." Mac gave her a quick hug and led her outside, before sitting back down beside Parker.

"Hey, I got your message." Logan said, following Wallace into his room to find Veronica laying on his bed.

"What you up to?" Wallace asked, dropping his books on the floor.

"Turning my unbearable anger into steely resolve." Veronica told them, her fingers pressed to her temples. "I think it's working."

"Well, you've had plenty of practice." Wallace agreed.

"Yeah. Good." She lay completely still for a few more seconds, then sat up, swinging her feet to the floor and facing the two boys. "Done. I'm gonna catch the rapist and see him crucified."

"I don't think they do that anymore." Wallace told her.

"You're going to what?" Logan asked dropping onto the bed beside her.

"Parker was raped last night. I'm going to find the rapist and make sure he pays for what he did, at least give her the satisfaction of knowing he's paying for what he did."

"Okay, maybe we should talk about this before you jump headfirst into a very big pool." Logan said.

"We can do that later. Right now, I have an interview with the paper. Word is they actually pay for pictures in college."

As she was getting up, Moe walked in.

"New safety rules for the dorm." He said, passing each of them a flyer. "You guys heard about last night? The rape?"

"Ya, we did." Wallace told him.

"I really thought things were gonna be better after the last incident, you know? Like how the safest time to fly is the day after a plane crash? There's a floor meeting tonight. Look for ya." Moe said, giving a wave and starting to head out.

"I'm not gonna be around," Wallace told him. "I'm doing this experiment for sociology."

"Dr Kinny?" Moe asked, and Logan and Wallace both nodded. "I did the experiment last year. It's pretty intense. It's like... life changing." Moe told them, staring into space as if he were in some psychological trance. Veronica, Logan and Wallace exchanged looks, trying not to laugh at the RA as he walked out of the room.

"I'll walk you to the paper," Logan offered Veronica his hand, which she took willingly.

"What's the experiment?"

"A 48 hour study of the relationship between guards and prisoners."

"So are you doing the experiment too?" Veronica asked as they walked across the quad.

"Ya, so I won't be around for a couple days. Are you cool with that? I know with Dick moving in and stuff it might be a lot on your own but-"

"It's totally fine Logan. Dick and I actually seem to be getting along really well."

"Really?" Logan asked, unable to hide the doubt in his voice.

"Ya. Mac called and told me about Parker this morning, and it made me really upset and sick, and I was crying and throwing up in the bathroom and Dick came and knocked on the door to make sure I was okay, and then when I came out he seemed really sincere and worried. He kept asking if I was okay, and if I wanted him to go pull yo out of class or something. We actually had a really good talk. I think maybe, even though we've tormented each other all these years, at the same time we've formed a bit of a friendship."

"Why didn't you call me this morning? I would have come home," Logan told her, stopping and facing her.

"Logan, you were in class. And I was fine, it was just a bad morning. I had really bad morning sickness and the whole Parker thing just brought up some bad memories that played badly on my hormones."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Logan offered, knowing exactly what Parker's ordeal would have brought up in Veronica's mind.

"Not right now. I want to be presentable for my interview. We'll talk about it when you're done with the experiment."

"Are you sure? I don't have to do it. I'll just do the research paper instead."

"Logan, I'm sure. I'm going to be fine. It's not like you're shipping overseas! You're going to be ten minutes away in an empty dorm building or something. If anything happens, I'll call you. Or Wallace. Or the Professor, for that matter if it's so incredibly important."

"Fine," Logan finally relented as they walked up to the newspaper building. "Have a late lunch with me before I report to serve my time?" Logan asked.

"Absolutely. Meet you at In N' Out in an hour?"

"It's a date." Logan gave her a chaste kiss, before turning and heading off towards the parking lot where his car was parked.

"Hi, I'm here to see Nish." Veronica told the girl at the reception desk. "Veronica Mars."

"One sec," the girl wheeled her chair over to a hallway and screamed, "NISH!"

A few seconds later a tall girl with short hair came around the corner extending her hand to Veronica.

"I'm, Nish. You must be Veronica."

"That's me."

"Let's go talk in my office. Have you got your portfolio with you?"

"Yep, right here." Veronica handed the large book to Nish, who took it and stepped into her office to answer a call. Veronica stayed outside, looking around the offices.

"These are great," Nish told her, walking back out of the cubicle. "This other freshman gave me like a hundred pictures of his grandmother sleeping." Nish told her as they walked.

"Was she hot?"

"No." Nish laughed.

"I'd take any assignment. If I don't get this job, the fine people in financial aid have a completely undesirable position in the library all picked out for me." Veronica explained, then looked at the picture Nish was holding out to her. "Yeah, she's picking a wedgie." She agreed, looking at the picture of Shelley Pomroy with her hand up her skirt. "And she ain't got no alibi." Veronica joked.

"Can I tell you how happy this makes me?" Nish asked.

"She TP'd my house in the tenth grade. It makes me happy too." Veronica patted the picture affectionately, before Nish closed it and walked over to a filing cabinet. She pulled down a large poster and read.

"Welcome to the home of Theta Beta." She handed Veronica the poster, which advertised Fall Rush for a sorority. "What do you think?"

"I think it's the gateway to hell, and I don't want to keep looking directly at it." Veronica said, handing the poster back to Nish.

"Veronica, I have the perfect assignment for you," Nish told her as she placed the poster back on the filing cabinet. "You've probably heard of the rape spree on campus," she continued. "There was another last night, a freshman girl, her name's Parker something."

Veronica nodded, feeling her earlier nausea returning.

"She was at a sorority party at the Theta Beta house." That caught Veronica's attention, and distracted her a little.

"You think the sorority had something to do with it?"

"You wouldn't believe the rumours of what goes on in that house. I've been trying to find someone who could get inside Theta Beta during Rush Week, do a "Behind The Greek Curtain" expose."

"And you want me to take pictures?" Veronica asked, not completely following Nish's line of reasoning.

"I want you to do the story. You're exactly the type they would like to have- intelligent, cute-"

"Combative, independent-thinking, smart mouthed," Veronica interrupted her. "Believe me, I'm not their type."

"You'd be perfect, trust me Veronica. You'll blend right in." Nish pulled a file out and handed Veronica the Rush invitation.

"Tasteful Floral Dresses?" Veronica asked, reading the dress code. "All my florals are trampy. Seriously, I don't have a thing with a flower not in the tube top or hot-pant family."

Nish just ignored her.

"A couple things to know about Theta Beta. The parties are notorious of nothing but free flowing booze and boys and totally against school policy."

"Alcohol at a sorority party?" Veronica questioned. "Doesn't exactly sound like news."

"According to reliable sources, four of them, the Theta Betas get pledges all liquored up, take them to a secret room and have them undress while the guys from their brother fraternity watch the show through a two-way mirror. Now if this Parker girl was there-"

Veronica cut Nish off, holding up a finger for quiet.

"You had me at secret room." She smiled. This was her first lead, and she was going to take it.

"Great! I think you're going to fit in very well here," Nish promised.

Veronica gave her a quick smile, shook her hand and left to meet Logan.

"You're doing what?" he asked as they ate.

"I'm investigating the Theta Betas. It's okay, Logan. I'm not going to do anything stupid."

"Are you sure?" Logan pushed.

"Logan, I promise I won't put us in danger. I will keep Mr. Sparky with me, and I won't drink anything-"

"Take Dick with you." Logan cut her off.

"Excuse me?"

"I want you to take Dick to any parties with you."

"Since when is Dick a safety precaution?"

"I had a really good talk with Dick this morning, so did you. But when I talked to him, I told him about the baby-"

Veronica went to interrupt him, but Logan put a hand up. "I know you wanted to do it together, but I thought he should know. He seemed really worried about you and your proclivity for attracting... unhappy people." Veronica laughed as Logan tried to describe her without making her angry.

"I told Dick about the baby too, it just kind of slipped out. He played the shocked card pretty well." Veronica told him, making Logan smile.

"Dick wants to help. Take him with you to the sorority party, he's probably going anyways."

"Fine." Veronica consented, "but it's a sad day when Dick becomes my security measure."

"Hey, I completely agree. Personally, I'd prefer it if you took Back-up, but he doesn't exactly blend in like Dick does."

(_A/N: Okay, so I just realized that I never put Back-up in the story. I'm adding him now. Back-up is staying with Weevil, because Logan and Veronica can't keep him at the hotel, but Veronica takes him to work with her.)_

Veronica shook her head, taking a sip of her milkshake and pulling out her phone to check the time.

"I've gotta get going." She said, shoving the last of her burger in her mouth. "I have to go find a 'tasteful floral dress' to wear to the Theta Beta social this afternoon."

"So your daisy hot pants are out." Logan commented, getting up with her.

"Unfortunately. I'm just gonna run to Saks and find something on the sale rack."

"Want company?" Logan offered.

"I thought you had your experiment?"

"No until later tonight."

"Okay, sure." Veronica smiled, happy to keep him around for a few extra hours. She didn't want to admit it, but Veronica was nervous about spending the night without him. She hadn't been alone since her dad had died, and now with everything going on with Parker and her pregnancy... Veronica had a strong feeling that the next couple nights were going to be harder than usual.

"What does tasteful floral look like?" Logan asked as Veronica flicked through the racks.

"I'm assuming it means knee length, chest covered, no extra skin." Veronica told him, pulling out a red and white dress that looked like it had a crinoline. "Something like this," she cringed and held it up. "I'm gonna go try it on." She handed Logan her purse and headed for the change room.

"Wow!" Logan laughed at her an hour or so later when she emerged from the bedroom in the dress she had bought, her hair pushed back in a little white headband.

"Shut up," Veronica mumbled, picking up a red purse and emptying the contents of her usual bag into it.

"Have fun," Logan said, coming up behind her and pulling her into a hug. "I'll be home Sunday night. Don't do anything dangerous, and if you need me call. Okay?"

"Okay," Veronica agreed and gave him a quick kiss. "See you Sunday!"


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

As Veronica walked into the sorority house, she saw a group of girls lined up on the staircase. The first girl blew into a pitch pipe, and Veronica stopped in her tracks.

"No," she muttered, and then the singing started. Every instinct she had ever had told her to run as fast as she could in the other direction, but she couldn't. She had to do this story, and find the rapist. That was what mattered.

"Welcome to Zeta Theta Beta!" a blonde girl in a white dress ran up to her, a pen and some paper in her hand. "I'm Hallie. What's your name?"

"Veronica," she smiled and copied the chirpy voice of the girl in front of her.

"Oh my god. I used to have a little Shih Tzu named Veronika." Hallie wrote the name down and stuck the tag to Veronica's collarbone before running off. Veronica took a few more steps into the house and was met by another girl.

"Hey there, Veronika." The girl smiled, reading her name tag. "Great dress. I just need to take your purse."

"I'm sorry?" Veronica asked, thinking about her promise to Logan.

"Don't worry. We're not going to steal anything. It's a house thing." Veronica couldn't think of anything that would stop the girl from taking it, so she handed her bag over. "So, you ready for your first Theta Beta experience?" the girl asked.

"I'm trembling." _Quite literally,_ she added in her head.

She was waved into a large floral room where there were girls wandering around freely drinking lemonade and chatting, and a second choir standing in the corner singing.

"Lemonade?" Hallie appeared in front of her again, holding a pitcher of lemonade and a glass. Veronica smiled and nodded enthusiastically, taking the glass before following Hallie to sit on the couch.

"I'm Shania," the girl who had taken her purse reappeared, sitting down beside Veronica. "Do you want to get something to eat?" The thought turned Veronica's stomach. She really needed to get some motion sickness bands or something, she couldn't let pregnancy get in the way of her life.

"No thanks. I just had lunch."

"I am so completely not even lying." Hallie cut in, "Theta Beta is the best house."

"It is," Shania agreed. "We have so much fun!"

"So much fun!" Hallie parroted.

"It's really like we're all sisters. Oh, and Becky's father," Shania pointed to a girl standing by the window. "Is a dermatologist and he totally hooks us up. You even think you're getting a zit and you swing by- cortisone shot and you're golden."

"And we have a tanning bed!" Hallie told her excitedly. Veronica tried to look excited, but was pretty sure she looked more nauseous than anything.

"Fill her up?" A girl with curly red hair and a green dress stood in front of her with another pitcher of lemonade.

"Any chance this one's got a little kick?" Veronica asked, hoping for something to give her any clue that Nish wasn't out in left field on this, because at this moment, she was seriously doubting the truth of her sources.

"Sorry, no booze. Them's the rules." The girl smiled understandingly. "But the farther you are from the singing, the less you'll crave intoxication." She motioned for Veronica to follow her out of the room, and Veronica jumped up eagerly. Anything to get away from the two idiot blondes she was stuck between.

"Last week they tried to change the lyrics to 'Macarena'. I almost impaled myself on the banister." Veronica laughed, suddenly understanding what Nish meant about her fitting in.

"I'm Marjorie, by the way." She held her hand out to Veronica.

"Veronica. With a 'C'." She told her, pointing to the name tag. "What's with the whole purse thing?" Veronica asked, thinking that she could level with this girl.

"I think you'll find out soon enough. Trust, sister, trust." Marjorie's kind smile did nothing to help Veronica trust her, if anything it was losing her points.

"And don't let her scare you," she motioned to Shania who was still sitting on the couch. "Love her to death, but she kinda looks at Rush Week like shopping for someone to borrow things from.

"Shania?" A thin woman with short brown hair, carrying a plate of cookies smiled at them. "She's harmless. A one-track mind but a heart of gold."

"Gold?" Marjorie asked. "Really?"

"All my girls are wonderful." The woman smiled kindly at Veronica before walking into the floral room.

"Karen's our den mother. She gets paid to say that." Marjorie explained. "Truth is we're all incredibly lame, but we're like family. The trade-off is you have to wear a matching dress occasionally."

Veronica smiled, starting to like this girl again. She spent the next hour chatting with Marjorie and a few other girls about their majors and how great Hearst was. That was all she could really take, however. She said her good-byes, got her purse back and headed to her car. When she got there, however, she found a bunch of flowers on her seat and an invitation to a private party at the house later that night. Hopefully this party would be better than the first one. When she got home, Dick was spread out on the couch watching TV.

"Nice dress, Ronnie!" He laughed as she trudged past him, pulling off her shoes.

"Didn't ask your opinion." Veronica told him, slamming the bedroom door shut. She quickly changed into a pair of sweats and a tank top before returning to the living room and dropping down beside Dick.

"Logan said you're Veronica Marsing Theta Beta," Dick said, offering her the bag of chip he was eating.

"I'm doing what?" Veronica asked.

"You're doing you Veronica Mars thing- Veronica Marsing." Dick explained.

"Ya, I am. For a story that I got at the paper."

"And to catch the rapist?" Dick asked, not looking at her.

"Ya, Dick. And to catch the rapist." Veronica agreed.

"Did they invite you to the party tonight?"

"You know about that?"

"It's a sorority party. They're the reason I left the womb, of course I know about it. I've been made an honorary member of the Pi Sigs. I'm just not allowed to live with them, on campus housing and all."

"Of course you have."

"And Logan said that I have to take care of you while he gets out of writing his sociology final. I'm assuming you're going."

"Yep," Veronica agreed. "What does dress to impress mean?" She asked him, looking over the invitation again.

"Dress like your favourite Pussycat Doll."

"Ya, that's not happening."

"Why, you getting a little chubby already?" Dick asked, then seemed to realize what he said and quickly tried to jump off the couch, but Veronica was quicker than him. Before he could move she had charlie horsed him on both legs, causing him to roll onto the floor in pain.

"I think I'll leave the slutty outfits to you, Dick." She smiled and patted him on the shoulder as she walked past him, heading back to her bedroom to take a nap. It seemed like she had just closed her eyes, when there was a knock at the door and Dick stuck his head inside.

"I ordered pizza if you want any before the party," he offered before closing the door again.

Veronica rubbed her eyes and checked the clock- 9 o' clock. It had been 5:30 three seconds before. Veronica groaned and pulled herself out of bed, pulling one of Logan's sweaters over her head and walking out to get a slice of pizza.

"Thanks." She took the plate Dick offered her, then took in his appearance. "Why are you sitting in my living room in nothing but your boxers and a bow tie?" Veronica demanded.

"Well first, it's my living room too and second, this is my party outfit."

Veronica opened her mouth to argue, but closed it again, unsure of how to answer his reasoning.

"I'm going to go get dressed," she finally said, taking another slice from the box and leaving the room.

"I'll see you there!" Dick called.

An hour later, Veronica walked into the Theta Beta house wearing jeans, strappy heels and a low cut tank top. She expected to walk into a party, but was instead met by total silence, followed quickly by the rapid clicking of heels running down the stairs. She looked up to see Shania running down the stairs.

"I'm so excited you're here!" She cried, adding Veronica's bag to the pile near the door.

"Me too!" Veronica cried, surprised at the girl's reaction.

"Come on!" She pushed open the doors to the floral room, and they were met by loud music and dancing.

"Panty dropper?" Hallie appeared in front of her holding out a shot glass.

"Aren't you having one?" Veronica asked, taking the glass from her.

"Oh, I'm having more than one." Hallie assured her. "So, what do you think?" She gestured to the party around her.

"Awesome!" Veronica lied, pouring her drink into someone else's glass when Hallie wasn't looking. She would sooner drink Mark McGrath's bathwater before she would drink anything at this party.

"Brodie!" Hallie called to a boy dressed like Dick had been, carrying a tray of drinks.

"Hey!" he greeted. Veronica put her shot glass on the tray, making a face like she had just taken the shot.

"Panty dropper," Hallie instructed before pulling Veronica farther into the party.

"The Pi Sigs are our brother fraternity." Hallie explained. "They bar tend for our Rush parties. They're, like, the nicest guys." She assured her.

"Yeah, I hear they're super sweet!" Veronica agreed, thinking back to the year before when she had investigated them.

"I hope you don't have a boyfriend," Hallie continued. "There are so many cuties here. Like newbie legacy behind you. Lost Wilson brother," she told Veronica as he turned around.

"Hey," Dick nodded, giving them a flirty smile.

"Hi!" Veronica gave a small wave.

"Come on, let's get you another drink!" Hallie grabbed Veronica's hand, pulling her away. Dick gave Veronica a look that asked if she was okay. She smiled at him, giving a small nod, then followed Hallie into the party. Two hours in, she was playing the part perfectly. As far as anyone was concerned, she was the drunkest person at that party. She had been on the dance floor with every guy, and girl there. How long was she going to have to play drunk and willing before someone asked her to go to a secret room and take her clothes off? She was in the middle of doing the faux lesbian dance with Shania and Hallie when she saw it. The camera over the door. A secret room, perhaps?

"Look, you guys! We're on TV!" she screamed, pointing at the camera and grabbing a chair. She jumped onto the chair and started dancing again, hoping that whoever was watching would take the bait. A few seconds into her drunk chair dance, Marjorie and Chip approached.

"You didn't tell me there was a camera!" She told Marjorie, leaning down to take her arm. "Come up here!"

"Why don't you come down?" Marjorie suggested. "There's something I want to show you."

_Bingo_! Veronica thought, jumping down and following Marjorie outside, Chip close behind her. Veronica made a big fuss as she left the room, hoping to draw Dick's attention. Once they were outside, she quickly grabbed her bag from the pile before stumbling after Marjorie and Chip. They entered a dark staircase, and she reached into her bag, taking hold of her tazer.

"What are you showing me?" she called ahead of her. "Did you get a puppy?" She stuck the tazer back in her bag, hand wrapped tight around it as she got to the bottom of the stairs and walked out the door.

"You wanted to show me a driveway?" Veronica asked, looking at her surroundings.

"I think maybe it's time to call it a night, Veronica. You're on the verge of losing points with the sisters and, you're my fave, so..." Marjorie explained. "There's a Safe-Ride Home cart coming for you. Chip's going to wait with you and keep you safe." And with a wave, she headed back into the party.

Veronica faced Chip, who put his hands up.

"Hey, this is not how I wanted my night to end either," Chip said.

"Hey!" Dick cried, stumbling out of the building. "How's it going, Ronnie?"

"What are you doing, Dick? Aren't you supposed to be bar tending?" Chip asked.

"Figured it's time to call it a night, I'm a little too tipsy to get my drinks right. I'll wait with Ronnie here if you wanna go back inside, make sure she doesn't pull a runner." Dick laughed, throwing an arm around Veronica and spinning her around while she laughed like a child, trying to stop the urge to vomit all over the place.

"Whatever," Chip sighed. "See you later, man." He clapped Dick on the back and headed back inside.

"You okay?" Dick asked once the door was shut. Veronica turned away and threw up into a flower bed in answer, quickly tying her hair as she heaved.

"I'm fine," Veronica assured him, holding a hand out to keep him at bay. "Just a little nauseous. The smell of beer..." She explained, spitting and pulling napkins and a small bottle of mouthwash from her purse.

"So, did you learn anything?" Dick asked.

"Anyone at that party would have had access to Parker's room, or anybody else's rooms for that matter. They take our purses during the day and get our keys so they can leave invitations to parties in the dorm rooms. Other than that, I just need to get into that room with the camera." Veronica told him, sitting down and putting her head between her knees.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Dick asked, crouching down beside her. "Because Logan won't hesitate to kill me if you die or something."

"I'm not dying, Dick. I'm just nauseous."

A few minutes later, a golf cart pulled up.

"Your chariot," the girl driving barked. The same girl that had kneed Dick in the balls just a few days earlier. Veronica looked over to see him cringe and unconsciously cover himself.

"Thank God, I really wasn't up to walking all the way back to the parking lot."

"What dorm are you in?" The girl asked.

"I live off campus," Veronica told her. "You can just drop me off at the parking lot."

"The entire point of this is that you're not supposed to drive home. I don't know why I do this. You girls get all tarted up, parade right into the belly of the beast, and drink until you can't say no. You're lucky you didn't end up with a shaved head. You should know better. The Greeks are evil!"

"OK, so here's the thing," Veronica explained. "I'm not really drunk, so if you could just drop me off at the parking lot-"

"Yeah, like I don't get that speech from everyone that sits in that seat."

"No, for real. I'm totally sober. I was pretending for a story. I'm on your side, look!" She quickly touched her nose with alternating hands, but the girl didn't seem impressed, and Dick wasn't helping her case, since he was spread out in the back seat already half asleep.

"Hey, did you pick up any Theta Beta rushes last night?" Veronica asked, thinking that Parker might have been sent home in the same way.

"I didn't. But there are a couple of carts out each night."

The cart continued towards the dorm circle, and Veronica went back to convincing the driver or her sobriety, repeating the alphabet backwards.

"Do you want me to juggle? Back hand spring? A vagina monologue, perhaps?"

Fern pulled the cart over and slammed on the brakes, jerking Veronica forwards.

"Get out."

Veronica got out and smacked Dick in the back of his head to get him up. He stumbled out of the cart and joined Veronica on the side of the road as the cart pulled away as quickly as it could go.

"Thanks, Sunshine!" Veronica called, waving. "Keep on keeping on!"

"She was kind of hot when she wasn't beating me up," Dick said, staring after the cart. Veronica looked up at him in disgust before pushing him in the direction of her car.

"Let's go. I'm exhausted."

"Want me to drive?" Dick asked, throwing an arm around her shoulder.

"Not if you'd been sober for six months," Veronica assured him, pushing him towards the passenger side.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Dick stumbled into his room after they got home, and Veronica could hear him snoring within seconds. Veronica on the other hand, decided to take her time going to bed, suddenly afraid of what her dreams would bear tonight. She changed into one of Logan's shirts and a pair of shorts, then took her time getting her make-up off and brushing her hair. She created a file on her laptop and started putting together all the information she had about the sorority and the rapes. By 2 am she was completely exhausted, barely able to keep her eyes open. She crawled into bed, pulled the covers to her neck and closed her eyes. Veronica was assaulted by her own memories. She dreamed of Cassidy, felt his hands on her, heard his voice, and she couldn't wake up. He wouldn't leave. She pushed and shoved and screamed, and then she heard Logan calling her name. He was behind the door that Cassidy had locked, trying to open it. She tried to yell back to him, but Cassidy's mouth was on hers.

"Stop! Let me go!" she screamed. "Logan! Logan help me!" Her skin was burning, she couldn't get him away from her. He was everywhere.

"And Dick still thinks I'm a virgin." The words were repeated over and over, his face floating in front of her, repeating the words from the roof that night. And then she was on the roof, a gun pointed at her head.

"You wanna call your dad? Say good-bye before I press send, go ahead. I'll give you a minute." Veronica relived the moment of calling her dad, praying to every god there was that he would pick up. And then she saw the plane blow up. The flames, the smoke.

"Ronnie! Ronnie, wake up!" Someone was shaking her, but she was stuck in the dream.

"Veronica!" The voice sounded panicked, the shaking was far more frantic.

She could hear herself screaming, but Cassidy still filled her mind. He was everywhere. His voice floated around her, impossible to escape.

Veronica jolted up, gasping, still half screaming, definitely crying and soaking wet. At least her hair was. Dick stood over her with an empty glass in hand. Veronica jumped out of bed, still sobbing, and pushed Dick out of the way. She ran into the bathroom and dry heaved, wishing that she had something in her stomach to throw up. Finally she sat back, leaning against the bathtub, rocking back and forth.

"Ronnie, are you okay?" Dick asked quietly, creeping into the bathroom. She wanted to stare at him in shock, but couldn't bring herself to lift her head. She was the farthest thing from okay, that was obvious just by looking at her- sitting on the bathroom floor, sobbing, rocking back and forth, shaking.

"What do I do?" he asked, kneeling down a couple feet away from her. "Just tell me what to do. What do you need?" Veronica shook her head, unable to say anything. Trying to remember how to breath, but only remembering Cassidy's voice. The feeling of his hands on her, even though it was a feeling she didn't actually remember. She couldn't breathe. She wanted her Dad. Her Dad was gone, she would never see him again. She needed Logan. Dick was freaking out almost as much as Veronica was, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw him holding her cellphone to his ear.

"Logan," she gasped, still sobbing.

"I know. I'm calling him right now." Dick assured her, patting her arm awkwardly. The phone went to voice mail three times, as Dick wracked his brain for who else to call. Wallace! Wallace was doing the experiment with Logan. He quickly found the number and dialled. Veronica was getting worse, the images in her head getting more vivid. This was the worst panic attack she had ever had. She started screaming again.

"Don't touch me!" she screamed over and over, making Dick jump back a few feet.

"It's okay, Ronnie. It's just me. I'm not touching you. It's okay." The panic in Dick's voice was the farthest thing from helping.

"What's up, V?" Wallace answered the phone sounding groggy.

"Wallace! Thank God! It's Dick Casablancas."

"Why do you have Veronica's phone?" Wallace asked, and then he heard screaming in the background. "What's going on?"

"Look, Veronica's freaking out, and I couldn't get hold of Logan and you gotta put him on the phone cause I don't know what to do."

"Give her the phone." Wallace instructed.

Dick stepped back over to Veronica, holding the phone out.

"Ronnie, it's Wallace. Talk to Wallace."

Veronica shook her head. She couldn't talk to Wallace, she only wanted Logan. She had to talk to Logan.

"She won't take the phone. Man, you've gotta find Logan," Dick told him, putting the phone back to his ear. Wallace sighed and got to his feet, heading for the prisoner's cell.

"Where are you going?" Rafe, the guy who seemed to be in charge of the guards, asked him.

"I have to get Logan on the phone."

"He's a prisoner. He doesn't have phone privileges." Rafe said, pushing in front of him.

"Man, his wife is having a panic attack, and he's the only one who can calm her down. Now if you don't move out of my way I swear to God I will deck your sorry ass right here." Wallace said, shoving him out of the way.

"Hey!" Rafe chased after him, but Wallace was quicker.

"Logan!" he called, stepping into the "cell" and tossing him the phone.

"Hello?" Logan asked.

"Oh thank God!" Dick breathed, putting the phone on speaker. "Veronica, it's Logan. She's having a really hard time, man."

"Veronica?" Logan called, hearing her sobbing on the other end of the line. "Veronica what happened?" She shook her head, still sobbing.

"Dick?"

"I don't know. I woke up and she was screaming so I went to check on her and finally got her to wake up, and then she ran into the bathroom and she's been sitting on the floor, sobbing and screaming for about five minutes now."

"Veronica listen to me," Logan instructed her. "Are you listening?"

"Hm," Veronica gave a small gasp of acknowledgement.

"He's gone. Okay? He's dead. He can't hurt you anymore. He can't hurt anyone anymore. Everything is going to be okay."

As he spoke, Veronica's breathing began to slow from hyperventilating to gasping, and she stopped rocking back and forth.

"You're okay. You're safe. Nobody is going to hurt you. You're at home, and you're safe. Dick is with you, he's not going to let anything happen to you. Okay?"

Her breathing slowed even more, and her sobbing had been dialled down to plain old crying. She reached out a shaking hand and took the phone from Dick, taking it off speaker and putting it to her ear.

"Logan?"

"I'm right here, Bobcat." He promised, looking over to see Wallace fighting with Rafe.

"I can't get it out of my head!"

"I know. Try to think of something else. Do you remember our first kiss?"

Veronica was taken slightly aback by his question, it wasn't what she expecting.

"Of course I do."

"Tell me about it."

"You came to the Camelot, and punch out a federal agent, and then when I had finished talking to him you kissed me."

"Do you remember our second kiss?"

"In the back of the Xterra."

"Do you remember all the time we spent making out in the girls bathroom at school?"

"Yeah," a small smile escaped her lips, and she stopped crying, breathing a lot easier than she had bee before.

"Are you okay now?" Logan asked.

"I will be. I'm so-"

"I made Dick promise to call Wallace or me if anything happened, it won't effect the experiment. I explained some things to the Professor, it's fine." Logan assured her. "Don't say you're sorry. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm sure. Thanks."

"I love you, Bobcat."

"I love you, too." Veronica promised.

"Call your doctor in the morning and book an appointment. Put Dick on for a minute." Veronica passed the phone to Dick, running her hands through her hair.

"Try to convince her to go back to sleep." Logan told him. "She's going to fight it tooth and nail. Don't let her go to any more sorority parties, I don't care if you have to lock her in a closet. I told her to book an appointment with her doctor, make sure she does. If she doesn't, the number is on the fridge, call and use my name."

"Logan, it's fine. I'll keep an eye out. Okay?"

"Thanks man. I owe you one."

"Not as many as I owe you," Dick told him, hanging up.

Dick put the phone down and looked up at Veronica, trying to decide what to do next.

"Do you need anything?" He finally asked sitting down beside Veronica, still keeping a relatively good distance so he didn't scare her.

"No," Veronica shook her head. "I'm fine. Go back to sleep."

"I'll sleep when I'm dead," Dick told her. "Do you wanna get up off the bathroom floor? Maybe relocate to the couch?"

Veronica nodded slowly, and went to push herself off the ground. Dick quickly got to his feet and offered her his hand, pulling her to her feet.

"Woah!" Dick reached out a hand to grab Veronica as she stumbled, but she jumped back. "Sorry, sorry!" Dick held his hands up. "It's okay. I'll stand over here."

"Dick, I'm sorry. You just startled me. I get... jumpy sometimes."

"I get it," Dick said, letting her walk out in front of him before following and sitting down on the couch across from her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Dick asked

"Nope." Veronica picked up the TV remote and started flipping channels. Dick took this as his cue to shut up, but since she didn't ask him to leave, he figured he would nap on the couch while she avoided the situation.

"Dick, go to bed." She said, noticing him half asleep, about to fall off the couch.

"I'm fine." Dick mumbled, rolling over.

"Dick, don't make me drag your sorry ass in there myself." Veronica threatened, chucking a pillow at his head. "I don't need to be put on 24 hour watch."

"I'm just following Logan's instructions." Dick argued.

"No, Logan told you to get me to go to sleep. If you're so worried you can follow me around tomorrow. Go to sleep." Veronica glared at him, the same look that had warned him of impending injury for the last 6 years.

"Fine." Dick rolled off the couch, trudging to his room, leaving the door open just in case.

Once he was gone Veronica made herself a cup of coffee and grabbed some pop tarts, plopping herself back on the couch and putting on the movie channel, which was playing Frozen. She spent the rest of the night like that, curled up watching kids movies. When Dick woke up around 10, she had moved from watching movies to cooking. She had started with chocolate chip muffins, and was now making pancakes.

"What are you doing?" Dick asked, sitting down on one of the bar stools by the counter.

"Cooking. Here, eat these." She put a plate of pancakes in front of him, pulling syrup out of the fridge.

"Why?"

"Just eat them." Veronica said, turning back to the stove.

"You aren't trying to poison me, are you?" Dick asked, taking a bite tentatively.

"No, Dick. I'm not trying to poison you. Just eat the damn pancakes."

"You're gonna eat too, right?"

"Why do you think there are more in the pan?"

Dick fell silent, eating his pancakes quietly.

"These are really good!" Dick said.

"Why do you sound so surprised?" Veronica asked.

"I just remember you and Lily trying to cook dinner that one time and-"

"That fire was a fluke. The oil got too hot!" Veronica told him, turning back to the stove but smiled at the memory. Logan had made the same argument many times over, but Veronica always proved her worth as a good cook.

"Who do you think kept my Dad and I fed for the last two years?" Veronica asked him, bringing her plate of pancakes over to the breakfast bar. "We didn't have a maid like you."

"So what are we doing today?" Dick asked like the child he really was inside.

"I have a meeting at the paper in about an hour, and then I have to go to the sorority house-"

"Logan said not to let you go to any more parties." Dick interrupted.

"It's not a party, Dick. I'm going to talk to the House Mother and find a way to get into the locked room."

"Sounds like fun! Do I need to dig up my balaclava?"

"For what?"

"For breaking into the secret room."

"You're not coming."

"Come on, Ronnie!"

"Dick, if you are so desperate to keep an eye on me you can sit in the car and play a game or something while I get in and take pictures. That's the best I'll give you." Veronica said, holding up a hand to stop him from arguing. Dick spent the next twenty minutes sulking while Veronica finished eating and got ready to go meet with Nish.

Dick called through the door once, before returning to his room to sulk. When Veronica got out of the shower she found a message from Marjorie.

"Hey, Veronica. It's Marjorie, I just wanted to make sure you got home okay last night. Look, I know that it's not really my place, but you were really hammered last night and I think maybe you should think about cutting down your drinking. It's really not healthy to keep going the way you are now. That's just, you know, from someone who cares. Anyways, give me a call or text me when you get a minute, just so that I know you got home safe. Oh! And we're voting tonight at 7, I'll give you a call when we're done. Bye!"

Okay, that was weird. Why would she suggest cutting down on alcohol intake if her sorority wanted girls to strip in front of the Pi Sigs? It just didn't make sense. She kept thinking about it the whole drive to the paper, especially since Dick was still upset about not being allowed to join in the "Veronica Marsing".

"Hi, I'm here to see Nish." Veronica greeted the receptionist, who followed the routine of wheeling her chair over and screaming.

"Hey, look! I'm on the wall!" Dick cried, pointing at a white board that seemed to be used for layout. "They just can't get enough of me!"

"Who's your friend?" Nish asked, eyeing Dick in disgust.

"Lost puppy. Stay here," she turned to Dick before following Nish into the cubicles again.

Veronica relayed what had happened the day before, the tea and then the party where Marjorie had called the Safe Ride Home cart.

"Listen, it all sounds suspicious to me, Veronica, but you gotta find out what's behind the door with the camera." Nish said as they walked.

"Marjorie, the cool one-"

"Trust me, Veronica." Nish interrupted. "None of them are cool."

"She left me a voice mail checking in on me, suggesting I curtail my drinking. It just doesn't exactly sound like the advice she'd give if they were trying to get me to strip in front of the Pi Sigs." Veronica repeated her earlier suspicions, but Nish wasn't buying it.

"Four sources, Veronica. Something bad is happening in that basement!"

"Marjorie also said they were voting tonight at 7, that's when I'll make my move."

"Great." Nish smiled, happy that Veronica was still working on the story.

"They sent me home in a Safe Ride Home cart. If they sent Parker home the same way, maybe the driver knows something." Veronica continued, moving the subject back to why she was really here.

"Or maybe the driver took advantage of the situation," Nish hopped onto Veronica's train of thought. "I have a friend who volunteers at Take Back The Night." Nish told her, walking into her cubicle and picking up the phone. "Hey, it's Nish. Question. Do you guys keep records of who you take home?" Nish asked. "Thursday night, did you take home Parker..." She looked at Veronica, fishing for a name.

"Lee."

"Lee." Nish repeated. "She would have been picked up from a Theta Beta party... Do you have a name for the driver?" Nish asked, smiling and grabbing a pen. "Can you spell that? Thanks!" Nish hung up the phone and turned back to Veronica.

"Parker was picked up and taken home by Moe Slater. He's an-"

"RA in Venice Hall." Veronica finished, shocked at this development.

"You know him?" Nish asked.

"Ya, my friend lives there. We've run into each other a few times. Look, I'll come by tonight and let you know what I find in the Theta Beta house. Bye!" Veronica turned and manoeuvred her way through the cubicles.

"Ronnie!" Dick called when he saw her. "Have you met Sarah?" He motioned to the girl sitting at the receptionist's desk, who was staring lustfully up at him.

"He hasn't had his shots re-upped in a while." Veronica warned her, grabbing Dick's arm and pulling him outside.

"I'll call you!" Dick called behind him.

"I'll wait by the phone!" She giggled back.

"You'll be waiting a long time!" Veronica informed her before the glass door swung shut.

"What's the rush?" Dick demanded, jogging to catch up with her.

"I have someone to talk to," Veronica told him making a bee-line for Venice hall. She headed straight for Moe's room, Dick trailing behind, but getting distracted by a cute girl. Veronica shook her head and knocked on Moe's door.

"You wanna know the day _you're_ least safe at Hearst?" Veronica asked when he opened the door. "Today. Why didn't you tell us you were the one who drove Parker home the night she was raped?" Veronica demanded. Moe was completely at a loss for words, but stepped aside to let Veronica in.

"If I understand correctly, you drove Parker home. She must have been totally out of it." Veronica continued, watching Moe pour water into a mug.

"She was," Moe agreed. "She was hammered."

"And you come in Wallace's room the next day dropping off rape safety rules and you don't mention you were the one who put her to bed."

"I didn't know Parker was the girl who got raped." Moe promised. "If I knew, I would have gone to the police or something. Biscotti?" He held out a plate to Veronica, who stared at him. How the hell did this boy's mind work? She had basically just accused him of rape, and he was offering her biscotti?

"No. And what exactly would you have told the police?"

"Whatever they asked. I didn't do anything wrong, Veronica. She was fine when we left."

"We?" Veronica asked, raising an eyebrow.

"There was another girl in the cart. She wasn't drunk or anything. She just took the cart so she didn't have to walk alone. Parker was so out of it, she helped me take her upstairs."

"What was her name?" Veronica demanded, pulling a notebook out of her bag.

"Teri Wells. She's an RA in Clark hall."

Veronica nodded, writing the name down and turning to leave.

"Veronica!" Moe called after her. "I didn't do anything. I would never take advantage of somebody like that." His voice made her believe his innocence, but her head knew to ignore that feeling. Instead of replying, she simply nodded and headed out to find Dick. When he wasn't in the hallway, she decided to just yell.

"DICK CASABLANCAS! IF YOU WANT A RIDE HOME I'M LEAVING NOW!" She screamed, causing a few people to stick their heads outside and glare at her.

"What? It's not good babysitting if you lose the baby." She explained, smiling sweetly at them. Veronica made it all the way to her car before she found Dick, in her back seat.

"Out!" She screamed, throwing the door open and smacking Dick over the head.

"Hey! Ronnie!" Dick argued as the girl underneath him wiggled out of the car in fear.

"My car is not your latest make-out zone!" Veronica screamed, pulling Dick out by the hair.

"You said it was your car!" the girl cried, sounding completely appalled.

"Leave. Do it now, before I turn on you." Veronica warned, glaring at the brunette in front of her.

"I would do what she says." Dick told the girl, giving her a small smile. "She's small but terrifying. I'll call you."

"You don't have my number," the girl told him.

"Ronnie here will find it for me!" Dick promised, throwing an arm around Veronica's neck.

"You need to remove your arm before I do it for you- permanently." Veronica growled, causing Dick to put his hand in the air and take a step back.

"Now get in the damn car. I have to go see the Theta Beta house mother."

"You need to loosen up, Ronnie. Have some fun-"

"Dick, shut up." Veronica ordered, turning up the radio and concentrating on driving. When they pulled up to the sorority house, Veronica ordered Dick to stay in the car.

"I'll be back in 5 minutes. 10, tops."

Dick gave a small nod, pulling out his phone and cracking a window.

"Hi, Veronica isn't it?" Karen answered the door.

"Ya. I was just hoping to talk to Marjorie," Veronica told her, looking upset.

"I'm sorry, you can't talk to any of the girls before the vote, but would you like to talk to me?"

"Um, sure." Veronica nodded, following Karen inside and up to her room.

"Can I get you a drink? I think there's some iced tea in the mini bar," Karen offered.

"That would be great, thanks!" Veronica smiled.

"Here you go, Veronica." Karen smiled, handing her a bottle of Snapple.

"Thanks. I'm just so embarrassed." Veronica told her. "I- I'm really not usually like that." She promised, pulling off the terrified Valley Girl routine perfectly.

"We all have our moments, Veronica." Karen said sympathetically. "Lord knows I have."

"I just _know_ they're not going to invite me now!" Veronica sighed, looking as if she were on the verge of tears.

"They may surprise you. My girls are excellent judges of character," Karen reassured her.

"I really like it here, and Marjorie..." Veronica faded off, sounding like she was going to be missing Marjorie the most.

"You know, you can't talk to the girls before the vote, but I can." Karen smiled, getting up and leaving the room. Veronica took the time to look around. She headed straight for the desk, searching the drawers until she found a set of keys which she pocketed. Then she saw the computer screen. It was a video, showing the room from the party. Why would the camera to the door lead to the den mother's room? Veronica wondered.

"Veronica?" Karen asked, re-entering the room. Veronica quickly took the lid off her Snapple bottle and turned around.

"Just looking for the trash," she held up the lid.

"You can relax now." Karen offered, taking the bottle from her. "I don't think you have anything to worry about."

"Thanks!" Veronica smiled, letting out a sigh of relief. "I have to go, I left my dog in the car." Veronica made her way to the door.

"Thanks for helping me out."

"It was my pleasure, Veronica." Karen led her back down the stairs.

"So how did it go?" Dick asked, as Veronica climbed back into the car.

"I got 'em." Veronica pulled the keys out of her pocket, jingling them in the air.

"Logan called when you were gone," Dick told her. "Apparently Wallace snuck his phone to him, in case you needed to call again. He wants you to meet him at the student union at 6:30."


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Veronica walked into the student union and immediately spotted Logan sitting at a large table with a bunch of other students in matching shirts.

"Ah, finally, my conjugal visit." Logan grinned as she approached.

"Hmm, lemme guess. You're out on good behaviour!" Veronica asked, crossing her arms.

"No," he admitted, looking over to the rest of the table. "You all know my girl, Veronica. I have your picture hung in my cell." Logan grinned up at her. "Gets me through the long, lonely nights. I lend it to my buddy, Horshack, sometimes. I hope you don't mind."

"It's good to share," Veronica encouraged, stealing some food from his plate.

"Yep. Well, have a seat. We're waxing nostalgic over our time on the inside." Logan grabbed her hand and made to pull her into his lap.

"Hmm, I can't. You're breaking out, I'm breaking in." She looked up at the rest of the table. "Star crossed," she explained, motioning between the two of them.

She went to give him a kiss, but he pulled away, getting up and pulling her with him.

"Hey, are you sure you're okay?" Logan asked, hands holding her face and checking her from top to bottom.

"I'm fine." Veronica mumbled, looking at the floor.

"I'm serious, Veronica."

"So am I, Logan."

"Did you get anymore sleep last night?"

"You mean after the 2 hours of absolute bliss that I started with? No."

"Do you plan on sleeping tonight?"

"Like the baby that I'm carrying around for the next 50 years," Veronica smiled up at him.

"Lies, while attractive on you, are not the exactly putting my mind at ease." Logan said, putting his forehead against hers.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" A voice suddenly exploded from the doors, making Veronica jump.

"See, I knew you weren't okay." Logan liked concerned again, ignoring the guy screaming behind him. At least he was until the guy grabbed his collar and wrenched him from Veronica, causing her to lose her balance

"What the hell, man?!" Logan reached out to grab Veronica and stop her from falling. Unfortunately, Rafe wasn't letting go. Fortunately, Wallace stepped forward and caught her.

"Man, you need to lay off." Wallace told him, helping Veronica get her balance back.

"You know, I don't think I do. He's a prisoner, I'm his guard. The relationship seems pretty clear."

Veronica stared at the guy holding her husband completely stunned. The guy was being absolutely ridiculous.

"Prisoners, let's go!" he screamed and the other students jumped out of their seats in fear.

"I'll be home soon, my love! Wait for me!" Logan called back, grinning brightly, but she could tell by his eyes that he was still worried about her.

"You okay, V?" Wallace asked.

"I'm fine. I do however, have a break in to pull. I'll see you later!" Veronica smiled, heading out the door to her car.

Veronica snuck into the Theta Beta house through the back door, trusting that they were voting somewhere other than the house. When she got to the secret room, she covered the camera with some tape and then unlocked the door. She was not expecting what she found, though. A full blown marijuana grow op.

"Holy smokes," Veronica muttered to herself, then smiled at her own joke. She pulled out her camera and quickly snapped as many shots as she could. A few minutes later, she let herself out, returning everything to the way it was and making a beeline for the paper.

"Un-freaking believable!" Nish cried, looking through the pictures that Veronica had just printed out. "This is awesome, Veronica!"

"Thanks," Veronica mumbled.

"And the secret parties with the booze and dudes? We're talking one Greek house down, 9 to go." Nish grinned and did a little dance.

"Yeah." Veronica agreed. "You know, they weren't all bad." Veronica told her, but Nish completely ignored her.

"You're going to be a real asset to us here, Veronica. You're one of us now." That had never been a phrase she was fond of, but she decided to put this aside for the time being and just accept her job graciously.

"I'll write the article and send it to you tomorrow, just to make sure I've got all the facts straight. Have a good night!" Veronica took this as her cue to leave, heading home to another sleepless night.

Dick was out at some party when Veronica got home, so she ordered a pile of desserts from room service and cuddled up on the couch, ready for a Dawson's Creek marathon. She was halfway into the second season when Dick stumbled home.

"Ronnie!" He yelled, flopping onto the couch beside her. "How's it going?"

"Go to bed, Dick." Veronica said flatly, trying to ignore him.

"Okey dokey!" Dick got up and stumbled towards his bedroom, hitting the wall a few times before he found the door. Veronica had an early class the next morning and decided to go early and pick up breakfast on her way. She was out and on campus by 7, half an hour early for her class, but well fed and less nauseous than usual somehow. Maybe it was from not sleeping. Could she have tricked her body into forgetting that she was supposed to be nauseous in the morning.

"Veronica!" Professor Landry came up behind her, sitting down on the bench with her. "What are you doing here so early?"

"I just got a head start on the day. Something about birds and worms, you know?" Veronica smiled, sipping her coffee.

"Hey, that's always a good idea." Landry agreed. "Veronica, I was reading your file-"

"That's never a good idea," Veronica commented.

"I just wanted to see what I was working with. You've been excelling much faster than the other members of your class, and I wondered where it was coming from. Your file is so thick it almost took up an entire drawer!"

"I know. I'm very accomplished."

"You've spent the last two years doing things that should be left to police and FBI agents."

"Ya, well. I like to stay ahead of the game," Veronica told him.

"I also noticed that you worked for your dad's private eye business. How's that going?"

"Well, I just reopened it, so..."

"You did?"

"Yeah, I shut it down after the funeral and while I tried to deal with the court case, and getting back into my life..."

"I'm sorry, I think I'm missing something." Professor Landry looked at her quizzically.

"You didn't read very far into that file did you?" Veronica asked, her voice a little higher than usual. "My dad was killed in a plane crash in June, I just went through an emancipation case with my mother that ended up with my getting married. The business was closed for the summer while we tried to readjust." Veronica explained, suddenly very interested in her coffee cup.

"I'm so sorry, Veronica. I didn't know. If there's anything I can do-"

"Thanks, but I'm fine. Really, you don't need to feel obligated to offer help just because I'm the best student in your class." Veronica told him, giving him a small smile.

"That's not why I'm offering." Landry promised. "I'm just trying to watch out for my students. Especially ones as promising as you are in your field of study. I'm offering because it seems like you might need someone to talk to."

"That's what I have a husband for, and a best friend. The only problem being that they're both doing an experiment for sociology."

"So that's why you're here so early."

"Kind of," Veronica admitted.

"Wanna come wait in my office?" Landry offered. "Look like far less of a brown-noser?"

"Thanks," Veronica smiled gratefully, following him into his office.

"Take a seat. I'm just getting my lesson ready for the day." Veronica sat in the armchair that he offered, pulling out the book she was reading for psychology. She read quietly for 15 minutes or so until the rest of the class started filtering into the lecture hall. After her class, which was incredibly hard to pay attention to, Veronica was met with a surprise at her car.

"We need to talk," Marjorie jumped up from where she was leaning against Veronica's car.

"About what?"

"Karen has cancer. She saw you go into her private room. There's a second camera inside," Marjorie explained. "What were you looking for?"

"The truth?" Veronica asked.

"If it's not too much to ask."

"Someone I know was raped after she left a Theta Beta party. I thought there might be a clue behind that door."

"What's behind that door has nothing to do with the rape of Parker Lee."

"So the pot farm..." Veronica let it hang in the air, hoping for an explanation.

"Karen was so sick from the chemo, she just spent the day lying on the floor in front of the toilet. We got a dog bed so at least she could lay on something soft. This botany professor friend of her gave her the seeds. He said it would help with the pain and nausea, and it did." Marjorie explained, and then her face looked worried. "She won't just lose her job over this, Veronica, she'll lose her insurance. Please don't say anything about what you found." Marjorie gave her one last hopeful look before turning and walking away. Cancer? That was a curve ball that Veronica wasn't expecting. It was also one that made Veronica feel even worse than before. It only took her a few seconds of contemplation before Veronica had pulled out her phone and dialled the paper.

"Hello?"

"Nish! It's Veronica. Listen to me, you can't print that story. I made a huge mistake." Veronica told her, speaking quickly.

"What mistake?"

"Their den mother has cancer. She's growing marijuana for medical reasons. She got the seeds from a botany professor who was trying to help her." Veronica explained.

"And the party, the underage drinking-"

"Look," Veronica interrupted her knowing where Nish was going. "Can you just give me a day, so I can verify some facts."

"As far as I'm concerned, the facts are here." Nish told her, completely unmoved by what Veronica was telling her. "The article's being published. You should be proud." Nish hung up and Veronica let her arm drop, feeling anything but proud. A few minutes later, she stood on the Theta Beta doorstep, almost on the verge of tears. She took a deep breath and knocked. A few seconds later, Karen opened the door.

"Karen, I am so sorry." Emotion poured from Veronica's voice, and she hoped that Karen understood. Marjorie came up behind her as Veronica explained. "There's going to be an article in the school newspaper tomorrow. You need to get rid of the marijuana before it comes out." The look on Karen's face and the way she walked away, almost made Veronica crack.

"You wanna know the definition of ironic?" Marjorie asked, leaning against the door with a wry smile. "You got voted in, Veronica. We wanted you to be one of us." She shook her head and closed the door, leaving Veronica alone on the porch feeling like the most horrible person in the world. Veronica went home and grabbed her laptop, creating a file for the rapes on campus and starting to piece together everything she knew. When Dick came home from one of the few classes he showed up to he found Veronica sitting on the couch with her laptop, completely oblivious to the world. And when he left to go play video games at the frat house an hour later, he found her in the exact same spot, completely unmoved. Two hours later when he came home, planning to grab his surfboard and catch some waves, Veronica was still in the exact same spot, typing again.

"Ronnie?" Dick asked, stopping beside the couch and watching her for a few minutes. She didn't make any indications that she had noticed him.

"Ronnie!?" He asked again, this time incredibly loud. Nothing. He walked over and waved his hand in front of the screen, all she did was slap him away, her eyes never leaving the screen. Well, at least she was alive. Half way down the rabbit hole, but that wasn't absurd. Dick went to the kitchen, poured a bowl of Lucky Charms, put a spoon and some milk in it and walked back over to Veronica.

"Eat." He put the bowl in her hand and grabbed his surfboard.

When Logan came home an hour later carrying enough take-out to feed a small village, Veronica was still sitting on the couch, the half eaten bowl of cereal on the table in front of her.

"There's my dedicated college student of a wife." Logan beamed, putting the bags down and pulling out two large cups and sticking straws in them.

"Knowledge is power," Veronica agreed, not looking up from the screen.

"Nietzsche?"

"School House Rock." Logan laughed and sat down, pulling Veronica against him. "I thought you weren't getting home until later."

"It's 7:00."

"No it's not!" Veronica told him, finally looking up from the screen.

"Yes it is. Now give me the computer. How long have you been sitting here?" Logan asked, watching her face. When she didn't answer, he prodded her in the side. "Veronica?"

"7 hours." She admitted.

"You haven't moved in 7 hours?" Logan asked incredulously.

"Apparently not."

"That's not healthy. Did you sleep last night?"

Veronica's silence was answer enough, and he sighed, kissing her temple.

"I'm sorry. I should have come home."

"No you shouldn't have, Logan. The experiment was important, and I was fine. I told you!"

"You haven't slept in two days!" Logan argued.

"That's not exactly new." Veronica shrugged, grabbing an egg roll from one of the boxes spread on the table.

"That's not exactly the point," Logan countered. "You've been completely exhausted every day since you got pregnant, and now you haven't slept in two days because of nightmares that I wasn't here to fight off. That's not healthy. Not for you or the baby."

Veronica was silent, chewing her food while he spoke, not wanting to pay attention to what he was saying, but knowing it was true. When she said nothing, Logan sighed and tried a new approach.

"So how was the story?" This was the question that broke her.

"I did something really horrible, Logan." Her voice was small and broken.

"What do you mean?" Logan turned to face her, taking her hand and she told him everything. The marijuana and the cancer and the story and how awful she felt.

"So I've taken all my horrible feelings and channelled them into energy." She motioned to her computer screen.

"The rapist?" Logan asked, skimming the file that was still sitting on the screen. Veronica nodded, eating another egg roll.

"What do you know?" He asked.

"Chip Diller seems to be around when the rapes occur, the safety of the Safe-Ride-Home is questionable and someone in the Theta Betas had the key to Parker's room the day she was raped. It's a start."

"Just promise me you'll be safe, okay?"

Veronica looked up at him and saw how genuinely worried he was. Even more so than usual. She nodded, reaching up to kiss him.

"I promise. I'm going to be starting my job at the library tomorrow."

"You'll be even smarter than you are now!" Logan smiled, happy to be back to some lighter topics. "I didn't think it was possible!"

"Anything is possible if you just believe," Veronica finished off her plate of food with a smile.

"It's like having my own personal fortune cookie."

Veronica's smile was drowned out by a yawn, which didn't go unnoticed by Logan despite how much she tried to hide it.

"Alright, I haven't slept since the last time you slept. Sleep deprivation was strongly encouraged during the experiment. Come on," He held a hand out to Veronica as he got off the couch.

"I'm not tired."

"Don't bullshit me. Let's go." Logan took her hand and yanked her to her feet, pulling her in the direction of the bedroom.

"Logan-"

"You're fine, Veronica. I'm right here." Logan promised. Veronica sighed dramatically, but didn't argue. Instead, she stripped down to her bra and panties and crawled into bed, the warmth and comfort immediately reminding her of how exhausted she was. Logan climbed in beside her, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her into him.

"I love you," he whispered into her hair.

"I love you, too." And then with his arms keeping her safe, Veronica crashed into a dreamless sleep.


End file.
